


Power and Compassion

by avengeclintasha



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, But only for like five seconds, F/M, Fluff, Howling Commandos Cameo, Hurt/Comfort, Maybe a little angst, Mentions of Other Cool Characters, More characters to come, Mutual Pining, Peggy Carter/Fred Wells - Freeform, teen for language and characters talking about sex(but not actually having it bc I can't write smut)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 45,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengeclintasha/pseuds/avengeclintasha
Summary: “It’s really thought provoking, isn’t it?”Peggy looked up from the sculpture. Her eyes met those of a man who was about three or four inches taller than she was. His eyes were the brightest blue and his dirty blonde hair was combed back perfectly.“Yes, it really is quite something,” Peggy said, taking a sip of her drink. “The story behind it is so interesting as well.”The man nodded, seeming to be entranced by the statue. Peggy almost cursed Angie in her mind. He was quite handsome. But, she was nothing if not loyal, and she was dating Fred and if anything weird happened, she’d make her relationship clear.--------Peggy Carter is a pre-law student at SHIELD University, and Steve is a history major with a passion for art.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 101
Kudos: 100





	1. Smoothies and Old Art

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> This is my first time writing something on here. I hope everyone enjoys it! You can find me on Tumblr @avengeclintasha :)

“Come on, English, it’ll be fun.”

Angie was fixing her curls in front of the mirror on the back of their closet door. Peggy was sitting on her bed typing quickly on her computer. She was writing an essay for her political science class, and it wasn’t due till next week, but she would rather be ahead than behind, and she’d rather be in her room than being forced to meet people with Angie.

It wasn’t that Peggy didn’t like meeting new people, but Angie was more extroverted than she was. This meant Peggy was always meeting whoever her roommate was talking to. She felt like she knew half the SHIELD University campus and she’d only been at school a few weeks.

“I have a paper to write,” Peggy said. Angie rolled her eyes, changing her shirt for the third time.

“Peggy, I know you finished everything that’s due for your classes this week and probably next week. Take the night off and come to the campus center with me. The drama group is having a little showing. There will be art students there in the gallery, and it’ll be fun.” Peggy still looked unconvinced. “Tell you what, we think it’s a lame gig we can come back here and watch that detective show you like. We need to go to Walmart soon, we’re running low on popcorn.”

“I’ll add it to the list. I think Mel said she was going this weekend, so we can get the whole crew and go together.” Peggy grabbed her phone and added popcorn to the grocery list she had shared with Angie.

“Alright, are you gonna change, or are you going in that?” Peggy shut her laptop, leaving it on her bed and hopped down.

“I think this is fine,” Peggy said. She had a SHIELD University t-shirt on with the signature eagle logo and a pair of jeans. “Who’s looking at my outfit anyway?” Peggy grabbed a brush from her desk and ran it through her long brown waves.

“I don’t know, there are some cute guys in the art programs, Peggy.”

“I do have a boyfriend, Angie.” she said. Though she did have a boyfriend, it was complicated. Fred had followed her(he insisted she followed him), and they had been going out for a long time. Peggy’s mother very much approved of Fred and thought his idea to study business. Peggy liked Fred, and he was nice enough, but she thought there was something missing from their relationship. Fred was always trying to protect her, and Peggy outright hated when he did. Michel, her brother, hated Fred and thought he was a stuck up jerk and Peggy was too good for him, and agreed that she didn’t need anyone protecting her.

She grabbed her phone and her keys. “Alright, let’s go before I change my mind, Angie.”

~~~

“I’m gonna get a smoothie and look at the gallery. You go with the drama group, I know you want to,” Peggy said, looking at her best friend.

“Alright, come find me if you wanna leave,” Angie said leaving Peggy to get her smoothie. She liked the raspberry sorbet and blueberry one they served best, and took it to go. Other than the gallery featuring student art, there was the drama group, some choir and other music groups and even some dancers. There also looked to be a group of slam poets on the small stage they’d set up in the middle of the main floor. Peggy smiled, taking a sip of her smoothie and making her way into the gallery.

There weren’t many people in the gallery, and it was mostly quiet. Peggy could hear piano music being piped through the speakers and she smiled at the sound. She started making her way around the exhibit, stopping to read the captions on the art, but there was one sculpture in particular that caught her eye.

The sculpture’s base looked like a large stone. Embedded inside was something that looked strangely like a frisbee in shape, but was painted with an interesting pattern on it. The colors were fitting, red, white, and blue, the school colors. The pattern looked like a target with a silver star in the middle. Peggy read the caption, intrigued at what it was about.

Power and Compassion: Dr. Abraham Erskine 1869-1943  
When SHIELD University was founded right before World War II in 1930 by Chester Phillips, there was little funding for programs like the arts and sciences. Dr. Abraham Erskine came in and changed everything with his program Saving Students’ Rights or SSR for short. He claimed that all students who wished to study the arts and sciences should be given the opportunity. Erskine has two Ph.D’s, one in art and one in biophysics. He wanted to give everyone the opportunities he was given. This was the last piece of art created before he was tragically murdered at in his science lab in New York City during World War II. He created this piece to contrast the dynamics of power. The stone the shield is thrust into was made to represent people who have been in power for centuries while the shield that was carefully crafted out of one of the rarest metals on earth discovered by Erskine himself. Vibrainium still is one of the rarest metals on earth and is primary used in laboratory settings. Erskine thought it was fitting to forge a shield out of it and use it in his art. He believed the shield embedded in the rock symbolized people rebelling against the people in power, but he stressed the most important part of this was compassion.

Peggy looked at the sculpture, very much intrigued. She took her phone out before snapping a quick picture of the art and the caption in case she wanted to look at it more later.

“It’s really thought provoking, isn’t it?”

Peggy looked up from the sculpture. Her eyes met those of a man who was about three or four inches taller than she was. His eyes were the brightest blue and his dirty blonde hair was combed back perfectly.

“Yes, it really is quite something,” Peggy said, taking a sip of her drink. “The story behind it is so interesting as well.”

The man nodded, seeming to be entranced by the statue. Peggy almost cursed Angie in her mind. He _was_ quite handsome. But, she was nothing if not loyal, and she was dating Fred and if anything weird happened, she’d make her relationship clear. “My dad used to bring me here as a kid, and I’d sit here and stare at it for hours.”

“Did he go to school here too?”

“He was a professor here until he passed away,” the man said, sipping what Peggy assumed was coffee out of a travel mug.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No, it was years ago,” he said softly. “He’d like that it’s still here.” There was a bit of a lull in the conversation before the man spoke again. “Are you a freshman here?”

“Yes, I am. You?”

“Yep. I’m a history major and an art minor.” He shrugged, “well, that’s what I think I’ll do, anyway.”

“I’m on the pre-law track, and I’m minoring in psychology,” she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Steve Rogers,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Margaret Carter, but everyone calls me Peggy,” she said, shaking his hand. His skin was soft against hers, and she smiled at the touch.

“Do you wanna keep looking around the exhibit with me?” He realized the tone of his question, and the oversight he’d just made. “I mean you, uh, don’t have to do it with me. I kinda interrupted your—“

“I’d be happy to,” she said, cutting him off. She liked Steve, and he seemed nice and looked like he needed a friend. “But only if you show me some of your other favorites.”

“I can definitely do that.”

They kept looking around at all the artwork, speaking softly about each piece as they passed it. They were just finishing up when Angie came into the exhibit and found her.

“English, you’ve got to come see this choir group outside. You’d be perfect for it. They’re still looking for members because auditions didn’t go to good this year. They lost a lot of seniors who graduated, and you’d be prefect.” Angie didn’t notice Steve was even with her and pulled Peggy in the direction of the door. Peggy looked back and mouthed a ‘sorry’ in his direction and gave a little wave. He smirked and waved back, watching her leave.


	2. Making a Fool Out of Myself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who left comments and kudos on my first chapter. Each one of them made my day :) I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

Peggy did end up joining the choir that Angie had pointed out to her. The night after meeting Steve in the art gallery, she wished they’d gotten to know each other a bit better. Though SHIELD University was a small school, sometimes it felt a lot bigger than it was, and she hardly thought she’d see Steve again unless it was by divine intervention. 

Divine intervention seemed to come in the form of US History 200 at eight in the morning. 

Peggy had tested into the higher history class from her AP test scores she’d achieved in high school, so most of the kids in her US history class were sophomores, but there were fairly few freshman. It was still on of the larger classes on campus, it being an introductory course, so they held it in the lecture hall in the economics building. Peggy always got there early with tea and had her laptop ready to take notes. She sat in the back, near the top of the rows of seats. She had just opened her notes document when someone stumbled on the steps trying to go down them too quickly. Peggy looked up at the sudden noise and her eyes dropped to Steve. 

He was picking up the papers from his folder and notebook that flew everywhere. Peggy got up from her spot to help him pick up the papers. He hadn’t noticed it was her helping him, and when he turned around to see her holding his papers, he blushed. 

“I think these are yours,” Peggy said. 

“Uhh, yeah,” he said. His hand rubbed the back of his neck as his other took the papers. “Thanks.” 

Peggy gave a nod and a bit of a smirk, making her way back to her seat. 

Peggy couldn’t stop staring at the back of Steve’s head. She wondered how they didn’t recognize each other, but the class was big, and it didn’t have much in class participation, so it made sense that they hadn’t run directly into each other. After class, Peggy was packing up her things, unsure whether to leave quickly or not. Peggy cleared her things into her bag and got up. She stumbled on the step and felt strong arms catch her. Her eyes met Steve’s for the second time today and Peggy blushed, standing up and releasing the light hold he had on her. 

“You alright?”

“Yes, just lost my footing. I’m quite alright,” she said. 

They walked out to the lobby of the building in a sort of uncomfortable silence. Steve took a light hold on her arm and pulled her away from all the people leaving the building. She gave him a questioning look and he fumbled through the next set of words. “Do you maybe wanna… hang out sometime or something? I just liked talking to you at the arts event, and I…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck as the blush creeped up his neck. “Sorry, I have a tendency to make a fool out of myself when it comes to talking to new people.” 

“Steve, I appreciate it, really, but I have a boyfriend.” Peggy said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply it was a date. I just thought, you know maybe we could be friends? Or not, I understand, and now I’ve been talking too long and you probably think I’m crazy.” 

Peggy smirked. “Steve, I enjoyed talking to you too, and we can be friends even though I’m dating someone.” Peggy flicked through her mental calendar. “We have an upcoming exam, so do you want to study on Friday? From three to five?” 

“Could we do Thursday instead?” 

“Sure, Thursday from three to five.” 

~~~

Peggy had reserved the room for all of Thursday afternoon. She had some other work she needed to do before Steve got there. She grabbed a fast lunch from the Eagle Cafe in the Campus Center before going to the library. 

Peggy opened the study room door and dropped her bag down next to a chair at the large round table. She dropped the reusable container on the table and sighed. She was wishing for the weekend, but she still had class tomorrow. She flicked her laptop on and put her headphones in, pulling up Netflix. She’d been watching Quantico for a bit and had tried to rope Angie into it, but she didn’t like it as much as Peggy did. She was glad for the quiet of the library around lunch and the room she’d reserved. 

After she finished her lunch, she began to write on the white-board, outlining themes for her next psychology paper. The board was covered a half hour later and she was sitting on the table, back toward the door, glancing up from her laptop every few seconds to follow her ideas. She was just finishing up the last paragraph when she heard the door open behind her. Her head snapped up to meet Steve’s eyes. 

“Hey, sorry if I’m a bit early. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” 

“No, no, I just have a few more sentences to write and then we can get started,” Peggy said. 

Steve awkwardly put his bag down opposite of where he saw Peggy had placed hers on the large table. Peggy’s fingers worked quickly at the keyboard. Steve awkwardly pulled his laptop out of his bag and took a seat at the table. Peggy shut her laptop and sighed. 

“You alright?” 

“Yes, just tired,” she said, turning to face him. He had his thermos sitting in front of him, but there was also a raspberry-sorbet and blueberry smoothie sitting on the table in front of him. He picked it up, and handed it to her. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I got you a smoothie. You like the raspberry and blueberry one right?” Peggy nodded taking the plastic cup. “I just thought you might like one.” 

“Thank you, you really didn’t have to do that.” 

Steve shrugged. “I figured you liked them, and everyone can always use a good smoothie now and again.” Peggy took a long pull of the smoothie. Steve noticed her shoulders relax a bit. Steve pointed at the board, “psych paper?” 

“Yes, I just finished it up. It needs proofed and edited, but at least it’s mostly done.” 

“I can read it over if you want,” he said. 

“No, you don’t have to, it’s not a big deal.” Peggy hopped down off the table and began to erase the board. 

“I don’t mind,” he said, trying to offer again. Peggy didn’t respond, and just kept erasing the board. 

“Are you sure?” Steve looked up from where he’d been staring at the table. 

“Yeah, I like reading papers,” he said with a soft smile. 

“Alright, you read and I’m going to fill my water. Do you want me to fill yours as well?” She set her laptop down in front of him with her essay pulled up. 

“Sure,” he said, handing her the bottle. Peggy left the room, and Steve began to read, making small grammar corrections here and there, replacing a few words. He made sure to make the changes in red so she knew where he’d changed her writing. 

Peggy came back in to the room minutes later, wordlessly setting down his water bottle and sitting down next to him. Peggy watched Steve work for a few seconds before grabbing her smoothie and closing her eyes. She savored the sound of fingers working at the keyboard and the soft chatter muffled by the glass wall enclosing the room. 

“I finished reading this over. There wasn’t much to fix, if I’m honest. Just a few things here and there.” Steve pushed the laptop over to her. 

“Thank you, I appreciate it, truly,” Peggy said. “Right, now, let’s get started with history. Where would you like to start?” 

They studied until around five, each feeling more prepared for the test now having studied with another person. They were packing up their stuff and Peggy got a call on her phone. “Excuse me,” Peggy said, sliding the button across the screen and leaving the room. 

Steve continued packing up his stuff and wasn’t really trying to pay attention to what or who Peggy was on the phone with, but she looked frustrated. Steve didn’t ever want to be on the receiving end of that look. Steve finished cleaning the board off and just as he was finishing, Peggy came back into the room. “Sorry about that,” she breathed, tossing her phone into her backpack, seeming to want to be as far away from it as possible. 

“Everything alright?” 

“Just a long day, and sometimes others are frustrating,” Peggy said, putting her textbook into her bag. “This was productive though,” Peggy smiled. They both put their backpacks on and Peggy held the door for him to walk out. 

“Yeah, it was.” Steve knew she had a boyfriend, but friends got dinner and he was so close to asking her, but then they ran into Angie. 

“Peggy, I just heard from the improv group on campus!” Peggy gave her a strange look because she was being a bit loud for the library, even on the group discussion floor. “I’m in! I’m so excited.”

“Congratulations, Angie,” Peggy said, and Angie hugged her tightly. Angie suddenly seemed to notice that Steve was standing there. 

“Who’s the guy?” 

“Angie, this is Steve. We met at the arts night, and it turns out we’re in the same history class.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Steve,” she said with a bright smile. “Wanna get some dinner, English?” 

“Sure, Angie.” Peggy turned to Steve. “Thanks for studying with me, and if you want to do more before the exam or some other time,” she paused, pulling a pen out of her hair and took the notebook in his hands. She opened it to the front page of his notebook and scribbled down something, “send me a text,” she said, handing him back his notebook. 

“Thanks, I will,” he said. All three of them walked out of the library together and split off, going their separate ways.


	3. Nervous Lunches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who left comments and kudos, they really have been the highlight of my week. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! Thank you so much for reading :)

Steve passed the test with flying colors thanks to the study session with Peggy. Not that he wouldn’t have if they hadn’t studied together, but it was nice to have a study buddy. Since their time at the library, there hadn’t been any looming tests or assignments for their class in the past few days. Because of that, Steve still hadn’t texted the number that Peggy put in his notebook. He was nervous about texting her. He didn’t want to intrude on her time and didn’t want anything he asked to seem like a date, but waiting for her to text him was a bit of a problem because she didn’t have his number.

“The way I see it, Stevie, is that you either need to grow a pair and text her, or get to history super duper early on Friday and leave a note with your number on her desk,” Bucky was sitting at his desk, half working on an essay, and half listening to Steve, who was laying on his bed, venting about the girl he met at the art exhibit.

“She has a boyfriend, Bucky,” Steve said. “If I do that it might make he think I’m flirting.”

“Then forget her, you know who could set you up with someone? Nat. She’s always looking to play match maker,” Bucky said, pulling a text book out of his bag.

“When did I say I wanted to be set up with someone?”

“Look, not the point,” Bucky said, disregarding his earlier statement. “Just send her a text. You said she seems like the kind of person who knows what she’s doing and knows what she likes, so she’ll probably just tell you if you’re going too far, pal.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “But what do I say?”

“Ask her if she wants to grab lunch and talk about class.”

“Right.”

Steve opened a new text window and typed her name into the box. _Hey, it’s Steve Rogers._ He deleted the Rogers part, deciding it was too formal. _I was going to go over my class notes tomorrow during lunch, and wanted to see if you wanted to join me._ Steve read it over about three more times before Bucky threw a crumpled piece of paper at him. “Just send it,” he groaned. Steve glanced over it one more time and pressed the send button.

~~~

It wasn’t until about an hour later that he got a message in return.

_Sure, I could do that. Does 11 to 12 work? The booths at the eagle?_

Steve smiled at her message before replying. _Sounds good to me. See you then_

“What are you smiling at?”

Steve looked up from his sketch to find Natasha sitting down across from him. He’d gone to the eagle cafe to get some work done before dinner, and Natasha had apparently found him.

“Nothing,” he said, putting his phone aside. “What’s up?”

“So, Bucky tells me you need set up.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “No, Nat, I don’t want set up with someone.”

“Alright, alright, but if you want me to set you up, it’s not a problem.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know,” Steve said.

~~~

Steve got to the booths early and set his things down at his favorite booth. He grabbed a sandwich and chips from the deli and sat back down in the booth. He opened up his laptop, but he was hoping they could have lunch more as friends rather than a working lunch.

He eyed Peggy before she saw him. Her hair was pulled into a messy pony tail and she had a pen and a pencil shoved into her hair. She looked a bit frazzled, but she was also farther from him. Steve waved and caught her eye. She gave him a small smile and made her way over to him.

“Hey,” she breathed. She dropped her backpack into the spot in the booth across from him. She tossed her phone on the table and sighed. “I’m going to grab something to eat and I’ll be right back.” Steve nodded and watched her walk away with her keys in her hand.

Peggy was having a rough day.

She’d had an argument with Fred earlier after history that morning about how he told her she was citing her sources wrong in her paper that he’d looked at. She hadn’t asked him to look at her paper, but he saw the printed version on her desk and started critiquing it. She had slaved over that paper the previous night, making sure every citation was in the right place and the formatting was done right. She’d told him over and over again that Chicago style was how her professor wanted it done, but he insisted that MLA citations were the gold standard. Peggy had gotten fed up with his arrogance and he got angry with her for getting angry with him, claiming he was just trying to help. Peggy then had to go straight to Politics 120 and forgot about the quiz she had to take. She took it, and she was sure she did decently, but it had just been a long day, and she was thankful she didn’t have much else to do other than have a nice lunch with Steve. She was hoping he’d forgo doing work, as it was a Friday, and she didn’t really want to do anything else other than go back to her room, binge watch a show, and paint her nails.

Peggy grabbed a sandwich and he favorite kind of yogurt, also indulging in some chocolate. Her favorite was the dark chocolate because it wasn’t as sweet. She paid for her food and went back to the booth with Steve.

“How’s your day going?” Steve opened the container he’d gotten his sandwich in and took a bite.

“Alright, I guess,” she said, opening her own sandwich container. Steve raised an eyebrow at her response. “It’s been a long day, and I have worked hard all week to get my work done and I actually don’t have anything else to do until tomorrow night, so I could just do nothing, but someone will want to drag me somewhere this weekend, and I am not in the mood to deal with it.” Peggy took a bite of her sandwich. “Sorry, that was quite a lot to just dump on you.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind. We can just sit and talk instead of doing work. Get to know each other a little better as friends?”

“Yes, I think I’d like that,” she smiled.

Peggy told Steve about growing up in England and he spoke about growing up in Brooklyn and how he still sometimes went home on the weekends to see his mom. It wasn’t much of a stretch because SHIELD University was in upstate New York, and really the city wasn’t that far of a stretch if you left early enough on Friday and stayed still Sunday morning.

Peggy talked about Angie, Fred, and a few of her other friends that lived next door to her, Melinda May and Maria Hill. Steve talked about Bucky and they realized they both knew Natasha which was kind of interesting. They talked about classes and favorite spots on campus, and before Peggy knew it, they’d both finished their meals a long time ago. 

Steve just finished telling a story about his favorite book series when Peggy noticed her phone was lighting up with messages. Steve saw her roll her eyes before thumbing through the notifications and tossing the device in her bag.

“We should make this a tradition,” Peggy said.

“You mean, we get lunch every Friday?”

“Same time, mostly same booth, same company.”

“I like it.”

“Good, then it’s settled.”


	4. Group Work and Track Teams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for all the kudos and comments! :) I hope you all enjoy this next chapter

“I _hate_ group work,” Peggy groaned. She looked at the list on her laptop and rolled her eyes. “I swear, I’ve never seen Jack Thompson do a thing in that class. Half the time he doesn’t even bother to show up.”

“Well, at least we’re in this together with…” Steve trailed off, pulling up the google sheet with their group rosters. “Daniel Sousa.”

“I’ve heard good things about him,” Peggy shrugged. “If Jack becomes a problem, his name is definitely not going on this presentation.”

“I can do the slide show. I’m really good with timing and the backgrounds and things.” Steve took another bite of his sandwich. “You and Sousa could do all the presenting part.”

“You don’t want a part of the action?”

“I’m getting my part with the whole, you know, slide show and stuff.”

“Cap!”

Steve froze at the sound. Peggy shifted in her spot across from Steve to see a group of guys coming over to the table. All the booths in the back had been taken today, so they were sitting at a high top table near the door of the Eagle Cafe. Peggy gave him a questioning look, but he just shook his head. “I’m sorry for what’s about to happen,” he muttered.

“Steve, Sam and Bucky raced on the quad and Sam actually beat him,” A man with a mustache and a shield baseball cap spoke first.

“That was only because I tripped on a slick spot in the grass,” Bucky said with a groan. Peggy recognized him, having met him in passing a few times with Steve.

“You should’ve been there Cap, it was great,” another man said, he had a British accent like Peggy did and he had on a track jacket.

“It was quite a show, Cap,” a tall man with a similar jacket to the British man said. He had a duffle bag with the SHIELD logo on it slung over his shoulder. “Good thing Dum Dum was smart enough to record it.”

“I think next time Sam, you should race Cap.”

“I agree with Jim.”

“Who’s the girl, Cap?” The man with the baseball cap pointed her out and all the men’s eyes seemed to fall on her.

“That’s Peggy. She’s in our history class, Dugan,” Steve said to the man in the baseball cap.

“I knew you looked familiar!”

“Aren’t you gonna introduce us, Steve?” The man Peggy assumed was Sam gave Steve a smirk. Steve rolled his eyes, but complied with the statement.

“Peggy, this is that running team I told you about. That’s Dugan,” Steve said, pointing to the man in the baseball cap. “You’ve met Bucky, and that’s James, but we call him Monty,” Steve said, referring to the man with the British accent. “And that’s Sam Wilson, and by the way, nice job beating Bucky.” Steve high-fived Sam before continuing. “That’s Jim Moreita,” Steve pointed to a shorter man standing next to Dugan. “And that’s Gabe,” Steve said, pointing at the tall man with the duffle bag. “And then there’s Jacques, John, and Pinky, but they’re not here.”

“It’s very nice to meet all of you,” Peggy said with a smile.

“Do you run?” Jim asked.

“I used to in high school, but it’s been a while,” she said.

“You should run with us some time, Peggy,” Bucky said.

“We run Wednesdays at 5. And sometimes we race on the quad,” Dugan said.

“I’ll think about it. I don’t know if I could keep up.”

“It’s not about that,” Sam said. “Steve can run faster than any one of us, and that really doesn’t matter.”

“You’re just saying that because you wish you could bet him,” Gabe said.

“No, but seriously. We don’t run for speed, unless we’re racing on the quad,” Sam said. “Just think about it.”

“Alright, I’ve got to go. I have class in ten,” Monty said. “Bucky, be sure not to slip on your way to chemistry.”

“I could beat your ass in a race, Monty,” Bucky said following him out the door. The rest of the guys dispersed and said their goodbyes.

“Sorry about that,” Steve said, taking a sip of his coffee. “You don’t need to feel pressure to run with us, or anything.”

“No, it might be fun,” Peggy said with a smirk.

~~~

“I swear, if Jack doesn’t come to the group meeting tomorrow, I’m going to strangle him,” Peggy complained.

“Maybe don’t go that far,” Steve said. “You sure you wanna run with us today?”

“Yes, _Captain,_ ” Peggy said, smirking. “How’d you get to be captain anyway?”

“We raced,” Steve said, opening the door to the Athletic Center. He held the door for Peggy who tanked him. They both scanned their ID’s and went into the building.

They reached the gym and most of the guys were already there. Steve and Peggy waved, making their way over to the locker rooms.

Peggy quickly changed her clothes, shoving her duffel bag in a locker and locking it. She grabbed her water bottle and left the locker room. She didn’t want to make a total fool of herself today, so she’d been running the past few mornings before her classes.

“Alright, Carter, let’s see what you’ve got,” Bucky said. Peggy set her water bottle down over by the lockers. She’d shoved her phone and headphones into her legging’s pocket in case it was more of a silent kind of running thing.

Steve came out of the locker rooms and joined everyone. He’d told her their usual route, but he also said he’d run along side her at the back so she didn’t feel any pressure of the guys behind her.

They went outside to the crisp beginning of October air. They started their run and Peggy found it easy to fall into rhythm with Steve next to her. The rest of the guys also kept good pace and they were easy to talk to while running as well. There was always a playful jab being tossed around as they ran, and it was nice.

When they got back to the Athletic Center, the guys wanted to do races on the indoor track. No one else was using it right then so, they all went upstairs and started racing. Peggy sat back and watched them race for a bit, and so did Steve. Though he was the “captain” of the little running group, he didn’t like to race as much.

“Come on, Stevie, you gotta race Sam. Show him up,” Bucky said. Sam had run the last three races and won. Steve gave Bucky a look. “Fine. Carter, why don’t you race him?”

Steve looked as if he was immediately going to interject, but Peggy beat him out. “You know what, maybe I will.”

“Peggy, you don’t need to race if you don’t want to,” Steve said.

“Nonsense, I’m racing,” she replied. “Alright, Sam, let’s have it out.”

Dugan counted them down and they raced around the track. Peggy beat him by at least two seconds and the guys were already cheering that she’d beat him by the end. Steve smiled, knowing she had to be fast by the way she ran with him today. Peggy grabbed her water and took a long sip.

“Steve, you gotta race Peggy,” Jim said.

“Damn, Carter, you’re fast,” Sam said. “I bet you could beat Steve.”

“I’m not racing—“

“Come on, Steve,” Bucky jabbed. “It’ll be fun.”

Steve glanced at Peggy who took another gulp from her water bottle. “I don’t want to race, Bucky.”

“The _captain_ of the Howling Commandoes running club doesn’t want to race?” Peggy said with a teasing smirk.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Peggy.”

“Alright, fine,” she said, still smirking at him.

“You’re just afraid she’ll beat you and by that logic then she’d be the captain since that’s how you got to your reign of power, Cap,” Sam said.

Peggy knew he was joking and Steve seemed to give him a look. “It is definitely not that. I told you guys you should’ve made Gabe the captain,” Steve said.

“If you two race, we’ll stop pestering you,” Dugan said.

“Fine,” Steve said. “Are you sure you wanna race?” Steve looked at Peggy. She gave him a shrug and a smirk.

“Let’s race, _Captain_.”

They both got set up and were ready to race. Dugan counted them down and they ran pretty evenly at the beginning and right at the end, Steve tripped over his own two feet. Peggy immediately forgot about the race and went over to him.

“Steve, are you alright?”

Steve’s track pants had a hole in them and there was quite a bruise where his knee hit the track. “He pushed away Peggy’s careful hands. “I’m fine, just tripped.”

Peggy disregarded his comment and rolled his pant leg up to look at it closer. Monty came over with the first aid kit that had been hanging on the wall next to the track.

“Here, Carter, let me,” Monty said. Peggy moved away, watching him examine the bruise and wrap it with bandage, just in case. Peggy and Monty both helped him up, pulling him to his feet.

“Well, guess you’ll just have to race her again next week, Cap,” Gabe said.

Peggy rolled her eyes and suspected Steve did the same. He was walking fine, and the rest of the guys went to change. Peggy cleaned up quickly and changed. All of the guys were gone when she came out of the locker room, except for Steve.

“Sorry about the race.”

Steve gave her a quizzical look. “Not your fault, I’m clumsy and tend to trip when I run that fast.”

Peggy smiled. “Still, I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Nothing to it. It’ll heal in a few days.”

They left the Athletic Center and began to walk toward their dorms. Peggy lived in Phillips Hall down at the bottom of campus and Steve lived in Walker Hall which was smack in the center of campus.

“Thanks for coming. I think you can officially say you’re a part of the Howling Commandoes running team now, since you probably would’ve beat me anyway.”

“I think you would’ve won,” Peggy said.

“Looks like we’ll have to race again once my knee isn’t all black and blue.”

“Looking forward to it, Captain.”


	5. Counting On It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone who reads, leaves comments, and leaves kudos :) I hope you all enjoy

“You got here early,” Steve said, discarding his bag at the table.

“Yes, well, I wanted some piece and quiet before our meeting,” Peggy took a sip of her coffee. “I have a feeling this last meeting might go better than all the others.”

“I hope so,” Steve said. The last few meetings had been frustrating because of Jack and Steve was just about done with the guy.

Steve got his supplies out and watched as Peggy typed on her keyboard. Sousa came in the study room in the library a few minutes later, discarding his crutch and sitting at the table. He was friendly, but you could definitely tell the guy had a crush on Peggy. While Jack endlessly pestered Peggy, Sousa agreed with anything Peggy had to say.

Jack came into the room, five minutes late and dropped into the seat across from Peggy and next to Sousa. “So, what are we discussing today?”

“We just need to practice the presentation a few times and then we will be ready to present on Wednesday.”

“Well, let’s get this show on the road then ladies and Sousa.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but the faster they got this over with, the faster he could get dinner.

Of course, Jack shot down her ideas and interrupted her, but once they did it for the third time, it actually flowed alright. As they were packing up, Steve overheard the conversation Daniel had with Peggy.

“Hey, Peggy, do you uh… maybe want to get something to eat?”

“Thank you, Daniel, but I have plans for dinner.”

“Right, um… Lunch tomorrow?”

Peggy gave him a puzzled look, she didn’t intend to make him ask again for a different time. “I’m sorry, I have a meeting tomorrow at lunch. Is there a reason why you want to have a meal with me?”

“I mean, I think you’re really nice and you can put Thompson in his place, so there’s that.”

“Are you trying to ask me out on a date?”

“Yeah, Peggy, I thought—“

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Who?”

“Fred Wells,” Peggy said. “He’s a business student here.”

“Sorry, let’s just uh, forget this ever happened, alright?”

“I’m sorry, Daniel.”

“No, it’s not something you need to be sorry for. I’m sorry for assuming a great girl like you wasn’t already taken.”

“Sousa! Are we getting pizza or what?” Jack leaned his head back into the room. “Let’s go!”

“I’ll see you around, Peggy,” he said with a smile. Daniel left, following Jack and Steve was just putting his backpack on his shoulders. He shifted his weight, feeling the awkward tension dissipate when Sousa left.

“Ready?” Peggy asked, looking over the space one last time to make sure she didn’t forget anything.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Angie and Fred are meeting us at SHIELD hall, right?”

“Yes, Angie said she’d be there and Fred seemed disinterested but seemed to want to come anyway. James and Nat are coming too, right?”

“Yeah, they’re on their way there now.”

SHIELD hall was home to the other dining hall on campus. It was almost right across from the library and Steve and Peggy got there right as everyone else did.They went into the dining hall and the six of them found a spot at one of the long tables. They set down their things and everyone went to get food. They reconvened and had a very nice dinner filled with good banter. Peggy liked the small group of friends they’d built here. It was good. At least, Peggy thought so.

After their nice dinner, Fred was walking her back to her dorm. He seemed to think they needed a different group of people to hang out with.

“I’m just saying that we need more friends with level head,” Fred said. “Romanoff and Barnes are hardly level headed based on tonight alone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, they’re just not our kind of people.”

“And what kind of people are our kind of people?”

“Sensible ones.”

“They both have enough sense for my liking.” Peggy opened the door to the dorm she lived in. “Thank you for walking me back.”

“You’re coming to the party tomorrow, right?”

“I have a lot of school work to do.”

“Just for a few minutes. You can stop by and meet some of the people from the finance class I’m taking.”

“I’ll think about it, alright?”

“Alright then, goodnight, Peggy.”

“Goodnight.”

~~~

“Come on, Peggy, we can go out, and it’ll be fun.”

“You say that, but last time I got beer spilled all over my favorite tank-top,” Peggy said looking at her roommate.

“Last time I said we should go out and have fun, you met Steve, so,” Angie shrugged, applying her lipstick. “I’m not all full of bad ideas.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Peggy said, finishing off her last email of the day.

“Nat’s coming,” Angie said. “She was trying to get Steve and Bucky in on it.”

Peggy rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine.”

“Perfect, I think you should wear that black shirt you have.”

“No, I’m not getting another one of my favorite shirts ruined.”

“Fine, wear this.”

~~~

Steve was standing at the party that Bucky and Nat had dragged him to and trying to avoid basically everyone. He had a can of sprite in his hands and he was periodically sipping at it. He really just wanted to go home, but he promised Natasha he’d stay at least for a bit.

He eyed Peggy coming through the front door with Angie. She was wearing a white button up, tucked into her blue jeans. It had black polkadots on it, and she looked very nice for someone going to a college party. Angie was leading Peggy deeper into the party and when she eyed him, she gave him a smile. He watched her leave Angie and come over to where he was standing. She really was beautiful in Steve’s eyes but he immediately shook the thought from his head. She was his friend and she was taken.

“I’m surprised you let Nat drag you out.”

“She wouldn’t shut up, so,” Steve shrugged. “She seemed really intent on getting me to come out for some reason.”

“Well, Angie seems to have done the same with me,” Peggy rolled her eyes. “Want to show me where the drinks are?”

“Sure,” he said, leading her out of the main room and into the kitchen. She grabbed a can of lemonade and they went outside.

They had struck up a conversation, but didn’t get very far before Bucky found them and insisted that Steve come with him to meet someone.

Fred found her about a minute later and took her back into the main room of the party.

“Come on, Peggy, dance with me,” Fred said dragging her onto the make-shift dance floor.

“Alright,” she said.

They ended up staying on the dance floor for a while, and while they were there, Bucky was trying to set Steve up with a girl.

“Look, since Peggy’s taken, I thought you could use a date.”

“Buck, I’m not into dating anyone right now,” he said.

“You’re a punk, you know that. Come one, she’s real nice and I think you’ll like her.”

Bucky introduced Steve to a woman named Lorraine. She was pretty, but wasn’t really his type. Steve knew just by talking with her for a few minutes that they weren’t a good fit. She liked to dance and Steve had two left feet. She wanted to be an accountant living back home in California and Steve didn’t want to be away from his mother like that. Though he claimed that he was a terrible dancer, Lorraine still dragged him out to the floor and tried to lead him into the crowd.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

“Playing hard to get? Alright, then why don’t we go some place less crowded?”

“Uh, sure,” he said. Before they left the room, he quickly caught a glimpse of Peggy, mouthing a quick _help_ in her direction.

“I think I need a drink,” Peggy said to Fred. “I’ll be right back.”

Peggy followed the pair into the kitchen and said Steve’s name. “Steve, I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Peggy, hey!” He was trying to play along but had no idea where she was going with this.

“You look like you could use a drink,” she said, pulling two sodas out of the cooler in the kitchen.

“Thanks,” he said. Lorraine looked at him impatiently. “Uh, Peggy, this is Bucky’s friend Lorraine.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Peggy said with a nod. “I heard Bucky is quite into you, Lorraine.”

“He is?” She seemed a bit more excited with the prospect of Bucky than Steve.

“Yeah, he never shuts up about you,” Steve said. “You should go find him. He’s kind of shy about making moves on a girl.”

“You should definitely go find him.”

“Alright, I will!” Lorraine disappeared into the crowd and Steve let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said.

“Hey, you needed saving and I’m happy to come to the rescue.”

“I’ll return the favor.”

“Counting on it,” Peggy said with a smirk.

“Peggy!” Fred came into the kitchen a second later. “You left me out on the floor.”

“I said I needed a drink.”

“Alright, well, let’s go back out. I want to dance.”

“I’m okay. I think I just need a minute,” she said, softer.

“Fine, come find me when you’re done with your ‘minute’.” Fred left them alone, and Steve turned to Peggy.

“You wanna get out of here?”

“Yes, please.”

~~~

Peggy found Angie with some of her theatre friends and told her she was heading out. Steve found Nat and told her to keep an eye on Bucky. After they’d made their goodbyes, they left the party.

“Thank you for offering to walk me back. You really don’t have to, you know.”

“You’ve told me about how you’re a black belt and can take down anyone, but it’s still safer this way.”

“Well, at least you’re good company,” Peggy said. “I don’t mind going to parties, but they’re just a bit too loud for my liking.”

“Agreed. And we both know how I’m not a social butterfly so going to parties is usually just Bucky introducing me to people.”

“Angie always knows everyone and I am always with her so I know everyone by proxy.”

Steve huffed a soft laugh. “But then they never remember you and you have to introduce yourself as Angie’s friend.”

“Precisely.”

There was a few seconds of comfortable silence as they walked. Steve couldn’t deny he was attracted to her. She was gorgeous in her looks, but her brain and morals was what had him smitten. She was intelligent, funny, and she didn’t let anyone get in her way when she was determined.

Peggy found herself in a similar position. She liked Steve of course, and she couldn’t deny he was handsome. She had a boyfriend, and though she was staying with him more for pleasing her mother than anything else, she felt pulled to Steve. There was something about him that Peggy couldn’t quite put her finger on, but he was different than any other guy she’d met. Not like Sousa who asked her out and upon being shut down didn’t try for friendship. Steve had wanted to be her friend even after she turned him down because of her boyfriend.

They reached the doors of her dorm, and Steve insisted on walking her all the way up to her room. Peggy rolled her eyes, but let him walk her up to her room. She unlocked the door and turned to face him.

“Thank you for walking me all the way back. You really didn’t have to.”

Steve shrugged, “you’re my friend, and friends don’t let friends walk alone in the dark.”

“I can return the favor sometime,” Peggy smirked.

“I’m counting on it,” Steve replied.


	6. Sorry for the Short Notice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reads, comments, or leaves kudos :) 
> 
> Also... sorry about the coming angst...(but not sorry)

Steve and Peggy became better friends over the next weeks and it was the end of October and when Steve walked into history at eight in the morning on Friday he was surprised Peggy wasn’t there. Her usual spot was empty and he immediately started to worry. He sat down in his seat and sent a quick text to check on her.

_Everything okay? Just got to class and you’re not here._

Steve kept his phone on vibrate in his pocket, but it didn’t go off the entire lecture. Peggy missing class was a definite anomaly and something had to be wrong. He gathered his things and went to their booth early. He didn’t have any classes and they were supposed to meet for lunch today. He got most of his work done for the weekend before Natasha found him.

“Rogers, what’s up?”

“Nat, have you seen Peggy? She wasn’t in class this morning and I’m worried. She hasn’t answered me and I just have this feeling that something’s wrong.”

“I haven’t seen her. She might have just overslept. I wouldn’t worry.”

Natasha talked with him for a few more minutes, but left to go to class. It wasn’t until ten minutes before their lunch that Steve finally got a message from Peggy.

_Sorry, such short notice, but would you mind moving our lunch to my room. I’ll explain when you get here._

Steve’s brow furrowed, he began to pack his stuff, answering with a quick reply.

_Sure. I’ll be right there._

Steve got a pasta order she liked to go, paying for it without a second thought. He walked quickly to her building that was all the way on the other side of campus. Someone was coming out as he was going in, so he got in the building and climbed the stairs before knocking on her door.

“Peggy? It’s Steve.”

The door opened a second later to reveal Peggy with teary red eyes. Steve immediately became more concerned than he already was. She moved aside and he came in, setting down the food and shrugging off his bag. He turned back to her and she looked as if she was going to cry again.

“What’s wrong?” His voice was soft and steady and that was precisely what made her crumple into sobs. Steve closed the distance between them and let her cry into his chest. “Shh... Peggy, you’re alright.” He rubbed her back and held her tightly. It took a few minutes for her crying to slow, but once it did she pulled away.

“Sorry, I’ve made a mess of your nice shirt,” she said, shakily.

“Did something happen?” He disregarded her comment, concerned for her. He helped her sit on her bed. He climbed up and sat next to her.

“It’s my brother,” she swallowed. “He’s in hospital. He got in an accident and they don’t know whether he’ll make it,” she breathed.

“I’m so sorry, Peggy,” he said.

“I couldn’t bring myself to go to classes this morning, so two of my professors know. I don’t know whether I should try and fly home or not,” she said.

“Is there a flight you can get on?”

“The flying will take most of the day and I’ll have to be back for class Monday unless I stay out there and miss class.”

“Don’t worry about class, what do _you_ think is best?” Peggy glanced at her hands, playing with the fabric of her jeans. “Peggy, if Michael needs you, you should go to him.”

“I don’t have a plane ticket or a way to the airport.”

“I have my truck, and I’ll drive you. You can book a ticket right now on whatever flight will get you there the quickest. We can eat our lunch while we pack a bag for you, I’ll drive you to the airport and bing bang boom you’re there.”

Peggy looked at him. “What about class?”

“I can take history notes the way you like and send them. Nat’s in your politics class, she’s got you there. May’s in your psych class and she’s got your back. And Angie’s in your writing composition class and she can send you notes. Done.”

“You’re very good at this,” she said.

Steve just shrugged. “You had the dots, I just connected them.” Steve grabbed her laptop from where it was sitting on her bed. “Book the flight, you’ll hate yourself if you don’t.”

~~~

Steve packed most of Peggy’s bag while she picked at the lunch he’d gotten her. He finished everything up while she went to the bathroom. He zipped up the bag and finished off his coffee just as Peggy came through the door.

“Yes, mum, I’ll be landing at six tomorrow morning.” There was a pause. “No, it’ll be fine I have classes covered.” She shut the door, grabbing her sweatshirt from the bed. “I’ll see you then.” She hung up the phone and sighed, pulling the sweatshirt over her head.

“Everything okay?”

“We should leave soon if we’re going to make it to the airport.” Peggy brushed off his concern.

“You need anything else?”

“No, I don’t think,” she said.

“Pack your carry on, and I’ll be back with the truck in 20 minutes.” Steve said, grabbing his bag.

~~~

Peggy was on the phone when he got back to the room. She seemed angry at whoever she was talking to, and Angie made a face when she let him into the room.

He came in and looked at an irate Peggy. Her hair had been hastily pulled up and her eyes were red and swollen. Steve felt his heart break for her.

“Well, I’m leaving no matter what, Fred. It’s my brother.” There was a pause. Steve pointed to the bags on the floor. She nodded, understanding what he meant. He grabbed her backpack and suitcase and left the room. When he went into the hallway, there was Fred, yelling at Peggy though a cell phone.

“Is Peggy in there?” His voice was tense and Steve made his hand into a fist. The door was still open and Fred burst through it without a response. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Going home to my brother who needs me, Fred. Please, leave before I do something you won’t like.”

“You’re just going to leave and let some other man drive you to the airport?”

“Steve is my friend, Fred, and he’s much more considerate than you, might I add.”

“This chap is more considerate than me?! Your boyfriend you followed to school here?”

“I did not follow you, you just say that to boost your ego,” she spat.

“Steve, just go put her stuff in the car. I’ll handle this. You look like you might punch him,” Angie whispered, pushing him down the hall. She handed him her ID so he could get back in the building.

When Steve got back, Fred was gone and Peggy was practically bouncing off the walls in anger. Angie opened the door, but he could hear the tone of Peggy’s voice over everything else in the building.

Peggy’s eyes landed on Steve and she looked exhausted.

“Come on, English, you’ll miss your flight if you don’t leave now,” Angie’s calm voice seemed to soothe her just a bit. He came in and Peggy went out into the hall. Steve handed Angie back her ID card, giving her a questioning look. “Yeah, she dumped his ass,” she mumbled. “Take care of her.”

~~~

Steve got into the driver’s seat and Peggy in the passenger seat. He pulled the steaming coffee cup from the cup holder and held it out to her, shoving the keys into the ignition.

“No coffee,” she mumbled.

“It’s not. Decaf green tea,” he said. Peggy raised her eyebrows at him. “You drink it on Fridays when you’re stressed,” he shrugged.

“Thank you,” she said carefully taking a sip. It was perfectly sugared and she wondered how he could possibly know how she took her tea.

“If you’re wondering how I know how you take your tea, you told me a few weeks ago.”

“Well, that answers that,” she said, taking another sip.

“You want music?”

“Sure, whatever you listen to is fine.”

Steve set his phone up for Bluetooth, turning onto the main road out of the parking lot. He knew how to get to the city from the school, he went almost every weekend to see his mom anyway. He’d already let her know he was stopping by and staying the night.

He chose an album that was mostly instrumentals that he listened to for inspiration when he sketched. He tried to gauge Peggy’s reaction to the music, but she hadn’t said much so far.

“You wanna talk about anything?” Steve nervously said, pulling onto the highway. “If you don’t, we can just listen to my embarrassing sketch inspiration music to drown out the silence.”

Peggy took another careful sip of the tea Steve had made her. “Not right now,” she breathed. “I like this music.”

“It’s a Sleeping at Last album. It’s what I listen to when I need inspiration. It’s all based on space discoveries.”

Peggy finished off her tea, discarding the cup in the cup holder and leaning back to savor the music. It wasn’t long before she was sleeping in the passenger seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The album Steve is playing is Astronomy, Vol. 1 by Sleeping at Last. I really enjoy it, and it's really relaxing for background music.


	7. Lunch Boxes and Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's mentions of anxiety in this chapter so trigger warning for that. They deal with anxiety in the way that I find is best for me, but everyone deals with anxiety differently. 
> 
> And, as always thank you to everyone for reading, commenting, and for the kudos!

Peggy woke up in the passenger seat to the same soft music she fell asleep to. Steve glanced at her.

“You want something to eat?”

“You got food?”

“Yeah, I figured you could use dinner. I got a sandwich and that yogurt you like. It’s in the back in the lunch box.” Peggy turned and grabbed the lunch box from the back.

“Are you driving back to school tonight?”

“No, I’m gonna stay at my mom’s at least for tonight. I missed seeing her last week.”

“I’m glad you won’t be driving back by yourself at night.”

“You and me both.”

“Thank you, for dinner and the tea and lunch and driving me almost three hours to the airport with no notice.”

“Peggy, you don’t need to thank me. I don’t mind. You’re my friend, and you needed me.”

“You know,” Peggy took a bite of her sandwich. “I think that’s what makes you a great captain.”

“Hm?”

“You like helping people. That’s why you’re a good leader.”

Steve was quiet a few seconds. “The guys don’t need me.”

“Without you, there’s no team.”

“Dugan was the captain before I came.”

“Yes, but, there’s something different about the way you lead them.”

Steve shrugged. Peggy finished off the food just as they got to the airport. Steve parked his car and looked over at Peggy. “Alright, let’s get you all checked in and ready to board.”

“You don’t have to come in with me.” Peggy was already so overwhelmed with everything he’d done today and at this point, it was so much, she wasn’t sure she could comprehend it. “You’ve done so much already.”

Steve just shrugged again. “I’ll walk you in and we can find where you need to be and then I’ll let you go. It’ll all be good.”

She really didn’t want him to leave. She half wished he was coming with her. Peggy shook her head, trying to clear the cobweb of thoughts from her head. It had been such a long day, and she really shouldn’t be contemplating her feelings, if there are any, for Steve. Not when she just broke up with Fred. Not when Michael needed her. Not when she was going across the ocean.

He walked her into the airport. She insisted on carrying her own luggage. She didn’t want Steve to do any more because she’d already asked so much. Well, he’d already just _done_ so much.

“Alright, here’s where I leave you,” Steve said. Peggy looked at him. Her head was swirling in a bad way and she felt like she might burst into tears again. Steve must’ve noticed a change in her body language because his brow furrowed in concern. “You alright?”

“It’s been a long day.”

“Get some sleep on the plane.”

“It’s only partially the physical exhaustion.”

“I know.” Steve paused. “I know how you feel.”

“I’ll text you when we land. It’ll probably be at some insane time. I would do the math, but my head is spinning.”

“Be safe. I’m a text or a call away if you need anything.”

“An ocean away? And you’re still offering to help me with anything?”

“Anything. And let me know when you plan on coming home. I can pick you up again.”

“Steve—“

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t have to. Wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to do it, Peggy.”

“Alright, then,” she said softly.

“I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Yes.”

He pulled her tight to his chest. “Be safe. Always here if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

~~~

“This Peggy sounds special.”

Steve was standing in his mother’s kitchen in Brooklyn, making breakfast for dinner because that’s what his mother wanted.

“She’s going through the wringer right now, ma, and I just wanna be there for her.”

“Steve, you’ll meet a few great people on your life time, and I think she’s one of them.” His mother was folding the laundry on the dining room table just across from the kitchen. He glanced at her, giving her a questioning look.

“How can you tell?”

“You smile when someone says her name. You have been here three hours and have hardly talked about anything else, and you’re doing that thing you alway do when you like a girl and can’t get them off your mind.”

“What’s that?”

“You fiddle with everything and offer to do everything even without being asked.” Steve’s mother came into the kitchen and watched him over his shoulder.

“I don’t—“

“Yes, dear, you do.”

Steve was quiet, focusing on folding the eggs carefully the way his mother liked them.

“She’s got enough on her plate and she just broke up with a jerk.”

“You’ll get your time, Steven,” she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

~~~

He was asleep when he heard his phone buzz. He woke up blearily to the sound and squinted at the screen

_Just landed safe and sound. Sorry, it’s like 1am there._

_Don’t be sorry. You doing okay?_

Peggy’s name flashed on his screen as an incoming call. He picked up instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Where are you?”

“Just got off the plane. It’s loud.”

“Go somewhere quiet. Like the bathroom.” Peggy didn’t speak, but followed his soft command. Steve heard the background noise dissipate. “Pressure points of your wrist on the cool marble of the sink, or splash your face with cold water. It’ll give your body something to focus on.” Again, Peggy didn’t speak, but he heard the running of water and the sound of paper towels. “You’re alright. It’s been a long day. Now, you’re gonna have to leave the bathroom and go back out into the noise. You have headphones?”

“Yes.”

“Put those in. You want me to keep talking, or do you want music?”

“That music in the car.”

“Sleeping at Last Astronomy Volume 1. Just YouTube it. Plug it in, and listen to that while you leave and catch a cab and until you’re with your family. It’ll calm you down. You can look up 478 breathing too. It’ll give you a description of how to do it. Twice usually works for me and if you do it like four times you pass out, or something, so don’t do that.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Anxiety happens to everyone, including me. I’ve been where you are. The sinking feeling will leave most likely as the noise does. It might persist, but the music will help, I promise. If it does get worse, get yourself to a quiet place, breathe a bit, and you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you. Sorry I woke you up so late.”

“Don’t be. You needed someone, and I’m happy to be that person.”

“Alright, I have to go.”

“Call me again if you need anything. No matter the time difference.”

“Thank you, for everything.” 

“Anytime.”

~~~

Peggy got in a cab and called her mother to tell her she was on her way to the hospital. After, the cab ride was far from quiet, but Peggy had her head phone in and the soft music playing through them. She sighed softly and let the music untie the knot in her chest.

She had to pause her music when she got to the hospital. She got Michael’s room information and when she got on the elevator alone she plugged the music back in.

When she reached Michael’s room, she felt the world closing in. The music was long forgotten and her luggage was discarded off to the side. Michael was sleeping, but Peggy knew what they were saying. They were worried he wouldn’t wake up.

Peggy sat down in the chair next to Michael and took his hand in hers. She cried softly, wanting her best friend, her brother, to wake up. She couldn’t do this without him.

“Please, Michael, wake up.”


	8. A Sight for Sore Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reads, leave kudos, and comments. You all are amazing :) I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

“Margaret Elizabeth, you have to go home at some point.”

Peggy looked up from the spot where he brother was laying. The doctors said he was showing progress. How they knew that, she couldn’t figure out, but she’d hardly left his side in 24 hours. Her luggage was still sitting in the corner of the hospital room. Her mother had come and gone since then, having to go to work and things. Her dad had come and gone as well, and he knew better than to tell her to go home. Peggy had done all of the work for this weekend, so there wasn’t any worry about that. But, though she hated to admit it, her mother was right. She needed a shower, a proper meal, and eight hours of sleep.

“Alright, mum. I’ll go home,” she said, standing from her spot. She took one last look at her brother before grabbing her things and leaving the hospital.

She got in the back of a cab and gave the man an address. It would be abut 20 minutes, so she decided to check her phone. She had numerous emails from her professors, stressing no rush to turn in assignments she’d already done and turned in. There were a few messages from Angie which mainly were just funny things she thought might make Peggy smile. Angie knew her well, even if they’d only been roommates for about a month and each one did make her smile slightly.

There wasn’t a text from Steve which she half hated and half appreciated. She wanted to talk to him, but also, he seemed to be giving her space to think which she did appreciate. She glanced at the clock and did the mental math. It was seven in the morning back in New York, so she decided to send him a quick text before calling.

_Are you awake?_

The answer didn’t come until she was home in the shower. She saw it after she'd gotten dressed and opened it immediately.

_Yeah, sorry, was having breakfast with my mom. What’s up? Do you need someone to talk to?_

_I don’t want to interrupt your time with your mum_

Steve’s name came across the screen and she slid the answer button across, holding the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, you doing alright?” There was a half second pause before Steve spoke again. “My ma had to go into the school she works at to get something, so no, you aren’t interrupting anything.”

“Yes, I’m alright. It’s nothing.”

“Peggy.” His voice was calm and steady and it melted her resolve.

There was a pause before Peggy replied, "my mum sent me home,” she breathed. “This is the first time I’ve been home since I landed.”

“Not that I’m glad you’re away from your brother, but it’s probably best that you get something to eat and some sleep because I doubt you’ve slept much in the past 48 hours.”

“I’m just worried.”

“When my dad was, uh, in the hospital, I felt exactly like that. My ma had to drag me out of the hospital room, and…” he pushed a long breath out of his lungs. “I didn’t sleep and all I did was worry.”

“What did you do about it?”

“I worried and nothing changed. And I’d like to tell you that it’s easy to stop, but it’s not.”

“I wish it was easy.”

“You and me both, Peggy,” he sighed. “But you can make some tea and listen to music and sleep. And then when Michael wakes up you’ll be rested and you’ll look like you.”

“Yes, I think I will make some tea, and maybe have some toast.”

“Have some yogurt with it.”

“I will.” Peggy sat down on her bed. “Thank you, Steve.”

“Yeah, Peggy. Call whenever you need.”

“Even at one in the morning?”

She heard Steve chuckle, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “Even then if you need me.”

~~~

“How’s Peggy doing?”

“ _Ma_.”

“What? I’m not allowed to be concerned?” She took another bite of the lunch they were having in an attempt to hide her smirk. Steve had made them sandwiches and fresh cut French fries.

Steve gave her a look, and she flashed him a smile. “As well as she can be at the moment. She called while you were at school and her mother sent her home for the first time since she landed. I’m assuming she’s asleep.”

“When’s she coming back to school?”

“I don’t know, probably in the middle of the week some time. It depends on how her brother is doing.”

“Well, if something happens and you need me to host the two of you in the middle of the week, just let me know.”

“I will, Ma, thank you.”

~~~

Steve didn’t hear from Peggy until he was back at school. He was finishing up cleaning his side of the room when his phone lit up.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Peggy replied. “Sorry to call you twice in one day. What classes do you have on Tuesday, your schedule is slipping my mind at the moment.”

“I’m done at noon. Why?”

“I was just trying to plan when I’m coming home.”

“How’s Michael?”

“He’s stable. They say he’s doing better, but I can’t see how they know that.” She was standing out in the deserted waiting room while the doctors ran some tests. She had no idea what prompted them, or why they were doing them this late, but she was sent out of the room for the time being. 

“Don’t worry about making plans to come home, Peggy. We’ve got you covered over here.”

“I’ve been doing all the work for this week while sitting in Michael’s hospital room, and most of it is done, so other than notes, I have nothing else to do but email my professors scans of my homework. And of course, worry about everything.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re doing it,” Peggy breathed. “These conversations have been the highlight of my trip so far.”

“I’m sorry all this is happening at once.”

“It’s not your fault and idiot decided to smash into my brother’s car.” Peggy paused. “Or that I was dating a rather rubbish human being because my mother approved of him.”

“Did you tell your mom about Fred?”

“Yes, and she was and probably still is upset with me for it.” Peggy fiddled with the material of her jeans. Talking with Steve calmed her enough that she had sat down in one of the chairs, but she couldn't quite stop herself from fiddling with something. 

“You did what was best for you.”

“Yes, I think so.” Peggy’s head was swirling with those emotions again. Her stomach was tied up in knots and her brain was on overdrive. “How was your time with your mum?”

“It was nice. We talked a lot and, you know, just the usual.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed seeing her.”

“Yeah,” he paused, looking at his watch and doing the mental math. “Peggy, it’s late over there. You should sleep.”

“I know,” she said. “I’ll let you know an update tomorrow.”

“Call anytime. I'll be here." 

~~~

Peggy was sleeping in the hospital room when Michael finally woke. Her fingers were interlaced in his and he pulled his hand away when he woke, causing Peggy to wake up.

“Hm?”

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Michael whispered.

Peggy registered what was happening, still half asleep. “Michael?”

“No, it’s your inner voice speaking to you.” Though his voice was weak, the deadpan still came across.

Peggy started tearing up. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Yes, seems my sense of humor is still mostly in tact.” Peggy rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“You went and got yourself hit by a bloody car and scared me half to death.” Peggy wiped her eyes. “I flew out here to be here for you.”

“Well, clearly, I’m right as rain.”

“Yes, you’re quite right,” she rolled her eyes.

“When can I go home?”

“I’ll go fetch a nurse and we can see about your prognosis.”

Peggy left and came back with a nurse. She sent a quick text off to Steve not even contemplating what time it was for him because she hardly knew what time it was for her. Then she called her mother who said she and her dad were on their way.

Peggy came back in to Michael sipping water out of a cup.

“They say I’ll be here for another few days, tests and things,” Michael rolled his eyes. “You should go back to University.”

“I can get a flight home Tuesday.”

“Not tomorrow?”

“You want me gone so quickly?” Michael rolled his eyes and gave her a genuine smile.

“You know I’d have you stay forever in a heartbeat.”

“I know,” she said with a smile.

“Anything new happen while I was, you know, fighting for my life?”

“Shall I fill you in on the hell you put me through? It’s a lovely story that involves a juicy piece of news that I think you’ll like to hear.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Fred and I split.” She paused. “Well, I dumped him.”

“Best news I’ve heard all day.” Michael smiled. “Sorry, but that chap was a bloody idiot.”

“Yes, he was, a bit.”

“What other hell did I cause you to go through?”

“Well there was the booking a last minute flight, missing my classes, having to ask a friend for a ride.”

“Who drove you to the airport?”

The Universe seemed to have comedic timing, because her phone chimed with a text from Steve.

_So glad he’s awake. Hope everything goes well from there. Let me know when you’re ready to come back to school._

“I’m guessing it’s the person making you smile like that,” Michael said.

Peggy rolled her eyes, typing away at her phone.

_Thank you. I’ll update you on my coming home probably later today._

“If you must know, he’s a friend.”

“He’s much more than that if he can make you smile like that, Peg.”

“I just got out of a relationship, Michael. Rather disastrously, might I add.”

“What better time to start something new.” 


	9. So, What's the Problem?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos :)

“I still cannot believe you let a perfectly great man go like that, Margaret.”

Peggy rolled her eyes, shoving another sweater into her suitcase. “He was not a perfectly great man, mum.”

“You followed him to school.”

“You do know that I committed before Fred did, right?” She was folding her clothes rather hastily, but it was partially due to the current topic of conversation.

“Yes, but he talked about the school first. He knew he was as good as in.”

“Mum, I really don’t have time for this. I need to be at the airport soon and I want to stop at the hospital and see Michael one last time.”

“Well, fine then. He won’t take you back when you come crawling.”

Peggy bit her tongue. “I know, mother.”

“Well, as long as you know,” her mother replied before leaving the room.

Peggy rolled her eyes packing the last of her clothes into her suitcase. She glanced at her phone. She’d be seeing Steve in a little under 12 hours. Her flight was leaving at 10 her time and she was landing in New York around 3:30 if she remembered correctly.

She quickly gathered her things and said goodbye to her parents. She took a cab to the hospital and took the elevator up to Michael’s room.

“And there she is,” Michael said as Peggy came into the room. “Came to say goodbye?”

“Sadly,” she sighed, leaving her luggage in the corner of the room. “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“I’m glad you came, Peggy,” he said. “Thank you.”

“Hey, when you need me I’ll always come running.” Peggy sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m glad you’re okay, Michael.”

“I’m glad I’m okay too.”

“If you ever scare me like that again, I will smack you.”

“Understood.” Michael gave her another warm smile. “I love you, Peg.”

“I love you too, Michael.”

~~~

Peggy caught up on her notes during the flight home. She landed and gathered her luggage, sending Steve a message that she’d landed and was coming out of the airport. She spotted him waiting for her beside the doors leading out of the airport. He was wearing a thick sweater and a leather jacket over that. Peggy smiled at the sight of him. He glanced up from his phone and met her eyes. He gave her a shy smile and a small wave. Peggy quickly made her way over to him.

“Glad you made it back okay,” Steve said.

“Yes, it was a nice flight back,” Peggy smiled. “Come on, we need to get on the road before it’s dark.”

“Yeah, the car’s right outside,” he said rubbing the back of his neck.

They went outside into the chill of the late October afternoon. Steve led her over to the car and unlocked it, helping her put the bags in the back seat. Soon, they were on the road.

“What happened while I was gone?” Peggy looked over at Steve.

“Nothing much. History hasn’t been too crazy and nothing big has happened on campus.”

“Well, that’s good,” Peggy said. “I got most of my work done on the flight home.”

“Good.” Steve paused, and Peggy could tell he wanted to say something. “I know Angie’s gonna be all over you once we get back, but if you want we could grab some dinner.”

“I could text Angie and you could ask Bucky if he wants to come and then Angie doesn’t have to worry and we can all have dinner together.”

“I like the way you think, Peggy.”

~~~

Angie nearly tackled her when they found her at the Eagle. “I missed you so much, English.”

“I missed you too, Angie.”

“Let’s go get some food, I’m starving.”

Steve and Bucky split to go get pizza and Angie went with Peggy to get pasta. The girls were waiting for their orders and Angie was talking to Peggy about Steve.

“So, how was driving back with Steve?”

“Fine, why?”

“Come on, English, you’re single, he’s single, you’re both attractive.”

“Angie—“

“What? I’m just saying that he’s a good guy and you’re amazing and like… why not?”

Peggy stole a glance over at him. He was attractive, and Peggy couldn’t deny that she felt something there, but what if he didn’t feel the same way? And after her last relationship, she wasn’t jumping to be in another relationship. Sure, Steve would treat her right, and she knew that. But Peggy’s mind was swirling with too many thoughts and she couldn’t ask him to deal with that. Well, she mused, he already saw her sobbing and at her worst and didn’t run away.

“I don’t know, Angie,” she said. “We’re friends and I don’t want to ruin that.”

Bucky seemed to have the same idea as Angie across the cafe. “You should ask her out,” Bucky said, grabbing two slices of pizza from the counter.

“She just went through a lot, Buck. I don’t want to add more fuel to the fire.”

“I mean, you’re into her, and she’s single, you’re both good looking. So what’s the problem?”

“There’s not a problem. I just,” he trailed off. Of course he found her attractive. She was the perfect friend to him and him to her. He didn’t want to put too much on her, but god if he didn’t think about kissing her sometimes. He stole a glance at her talking to Angie. God, he was smitten, but he didn’t want to ruin a good thing. “We’re friends.”

“Well, I think you should go for it.”

They all found their way back to the booth and enjoyed their dinner. Bucky and Angie both left after finishing their dinner, saying they had assignments to get to, but Steve knew both of them were trying to leave them alone together. They did stay and talk for a bit, but eventually, it was getting late and Peggy still needed to unpack.

“I’ll walk you back.”

“Steve—“

“If you really don’t want me to walk with you, I get it, but,” he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. Peggy had picked up he did this when he was embarrassed or nervous to say something. “I just worry about you because you’re my friend.”

Peggy’s eyes grew soft. “Alright, let’s get going then.”

Peggy walked with Steve back to the dorm. She noticed on how Fred always left her at the for of the building while Steve walked her all the way to her room. There was something about him that made her insides melt and her heart swell that she couldn’t explain.

When they got to her door, Steve rubbed the back of his neck again.

“You know, you rub the back of your neck when you’re nervous or embarrassed,” Peggy said. She hadn’t moved to unlock the door just yet. Steve’s cheeks got pink at the comment he made and immediately put his hand in the pocket of his sweatshirt. It was an older SHIELD sweatshirt that had a picture of the sculpture they’d talked about when they first met. “I like your sweatshirt," she said, trying to make the awkward silence dissipate.

Steve looked down and gave a small smile. “It was my dad’s,” he said softly. “Anyway, I should, uh, let you go unpack.”

“Thank you for everything, Steve.”

He shrugged, blushing again, “it really wasn’t that big of a deal, Peggy.”

“Well, I think it was,” she said. “Not many people would do all this for me, and I really appreciate you going to all the trouble.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” he said. Peggy stepped a bit closer to him and smiled. He gave her a shy smile in return. He wanted to kiss her, and it would be so easy to bend down and—

There was a loud slam of a door and both Steve and Peggy jumped apart. Peggy shook the thoughts of kissing Steve out of her head. “Alright, well, I should unpack. Thanks for walking me back.”

“Anytime, Peggy,” he said. He watched her unlock the door and waved goodbye as she closed the door.

~~~

“You should’ve kissed her!”

Steve rolled his eyes. Natasha and Bucky were in the middle of an intense game of chess in the middle of their floor. Steve had just got back from walking Peggy home and the story had come out when Bucky asked suggestively if they’d ‘had a nice walk.’

“Yeah, I agree with Bucky,” Natasha said taking one of Bucky’s pieces.

“Damn it, Nat,” he mumbled. “But Steve, come on! That was your chance!”

“You two are literally the worst.”

“It’s why you love us so much,” Natasha said. “Checkmate.”

“Steve you’re distracting me with your moping.”

“I’m _not_ moping!”

“Steve, you, unlike the woman you’re interested in, are terrible at hiding your feelings.” Natasha turned back to Bucky. "Also, I win." Bucky swore, and Natasha laughed. 

“Well, thanks for the compliment,” he said, flopping down on his bed.

“I’m just saying,” Natasha paused, putting away the board. “You wear your heart on your sleeve, Steve. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Feels like a bad thing,” he mumbled, checking his email before tossing his phone to the side.

“Just ask her out,” Bucky groaned. “I will not listen to your ass mope for another second. If you don’t ask her out, I’ll just set you up.”

“ _No._ ”

“Well. I guess you’ll just have to make a move.”

Steve rolled his eyes, putting his face in his pillow. “Shut up you assholes.”

“Language, Captain!” Natasha laughed, and Bucky cackled.

“I don’t know why I’m friends with the both of you.”

“Because we’re lovable,” Natasha said. “Alright, I have class early tomorrow so I’ll see you losers later.”

“Bye, Nat,” Bucky said. After she left, Bucky turned to him. “You’ll get your chance, pal.”


	10. Sketches, Paintings, and Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and leaves kudos :)

The first time Steve had drawn her, he’d done it from memory.

It was the day they met and he’d been having a bit of a hard time with inspiration until he saw her. Her profile had caught his eye and for some reason the look on her face as she studied Dr. Erskine’s statue was etched in his brain. That night, he took a pencil and drew the concentration in her gaze with bold strokes and her soft curls with care. He had a number of little sketches of her profile, but he had one of her looking at the statue and he’d worked on it for days, wanting to get every detail right. Of course he felt silly drawing the beautiful girl he’d met at the gallery because he’d probably never cross paths with her again.

Steve thanked God for that Monday morning history class, as it seemed they were meant to be some sort of friends. And now that Fred was out of the picture, Steve thought they could be meant for more.

“Steve, you gotta just ask Peggy out already,” Natasha said. “You almost kissed last week for god sakes.”

“He’s a cannibal look at him eating that chicken salad,” Bucky said. “Steve, you aren’t getting any younger, and she’s a good looking girl. You wanna snatch her up before someone else does.”

“Yeah, I heard that Danny boy was going to ask her out again.”

“When’d you hear that?” Steve had to admit that he was only half listening to the pestering before that point. He’d been working on his latest sketch of Peggy. He felt bad for drawing her(he didn’t know why, especially now that she wasn’t dating anyone), but his fingers itched to sketch her all the time now. He was working on another from memory of her working at her laptop. She had the same look of careful concentration as when she studied the statue. He loved that look. Lately, his drawings, like the one he was doing, ended up in his smaller sketch book that he always kept in his backpack, but he had a bigger one with his more finished products.

“People talk, Steve. Jack and Fred are apparently friends so I assume that’s how Daniel found out she was single. They were talking about it a few days ago in the library.

Steve started shading Peggy’s hair and adding shadow. “I’m just not ready.”

“Well, you better get ready.”

~~~

Steve had been running late to their lunch because he had to go to office hours for his professor and the man would not stop talking about art history. Steve hadn’t been paying attention to the time and was actually enjoyed the talk with his professor. As soon as he got out of the building, he checked the time and realized he was late. He managed a quick walk to the Eagle, but he was still ten minutes later than usual. Steve saw her before Peggy saw him. She had that careful look of concentration on her face as she was reading out of one of her textbooks. He smiled and didn’t realize he was staring until Peggy was looking back at him. He gave her a shy wave and crossed the cafe to their usual spot in the booths.

“You’re late,” Peggy said.

“Sorry,” he said, tossing his things down across from her. “I was at office hours and my professor and I got into a discussion about art history.”

Peggy smiled at his passion for art. He still hadn’t let her see any of his art, but Bucky had bragged about his artistic creations more than once. “You know, I think I’d be more forgiving if you showed me some of this wonderful art I’ve been hearing about.”

Steve chuckled, “alright, fine, you can look at some of them. Let me get my lunch.”

Steve came back with his sandwich and chips, setting the food on the table. Peggy had put away her books and, Steve noticed, hadn’t eaten any of her own sandwich or yogurt yet. The fact that she'd waited for him to eat made his heart melt. 

“Alright, let’s see some of these beautiful art pieces.”

Steve rolled his eyes, digging his large sketch book out of his backpack. “These are all just sketches in pencil. I like using other mediums too, but there’s just something about black lines on white paper that really speak to me, you know. It’s simple. But some of them have a bit of color and shading.”

Peggy started to leaf through the sketch book as she ate her lunch. She noticed the progression of the different things he drew. There were classic bowls of fruit, but there were sketches of the monkeys from _The Wizard of Oz_ and drawings of trains and a few different people. She recognized an older woman and realized it was his mother. Steve had shown her pictures of his mom a few times and each drawing he’d done captured her perfectly. She found one of a man with Steve’s mother and noticed it must be his father. Steve didn’t talk about him much, but she could tell the incredible attention to detail he had when drawing him.

She noticed the drawings shift away from people after the ones done of his parents, but on the last few pages she swore those were fragments of her own face. Sure enough, on the last page there was a drawing of her. It was from the day they’d met at the art gallery. It was a profile shot of her looking at Dr. Erskine’s statue which he’d sketched beautifully. Peggy smiled at the drawing Steve had done of her noticing how detailed it was. Her heart melted.

“Sorry,” Steve breathed. Peggy looked up from the sketchbook and saw him rubbing at the back of his neck again. “I forgot that one was at the end.”

“It’s a gorgeous drawing, Steve,” Peggy said. “I think you’re very talented.”

“Thanks,” he said, blushing.

“I really like the monkeys and the ones you’ve done of your mother.”

“ _The Wizard of Oz_ is my favorite movie,” he said. “I saw it as a kid, and I just fell in love with it.”

“I really enjoyed it when I saw it.”

“We should watch it together sometime,” he said.

“I’d like that,” Peggy said, passing the sketchbook back to him. “I am rubbish at drawing.”

“I’m sure you’re not that terrible.”

Peggy laughed, taking a bite of her lunch. “Well, you are wrong about that.” Steve smiled. He could get lost in her eyes, and her laugh was infectious. He didn’t know how she could possibly like him back. She was just so great in every way possible. Peggy interrupted his thoughts, putting her sandwich down and speaking again. “Other than the rambling professor, anything else new and exciting? I feel like we haven’t talked much since I got back.”

Part of that was Steve’s fault. He hadn’t been avoiding her, but he knew she needed space to get back into the swing of things, and he wasn’t about to deny her that. It was also Peggy’s fault too. She had needed the space to get everything back in order with her classes as well as everything else. Daniel had already tried to ask her out this morning after history and she’d declined. Not because of Steve… well, maybe it was because of him a bit.

He was just kind and caring and every time she was within a few feet of him, her heart started to beat a little faster. He made her feel safe, and cared about. She loved hearing him talk about anything, especially when it was about his art or his mom. His eyes had a way of lighting up when he spoke about the people he loved and what he loved to do. It was infectious.

She knew she was falling for him, but was she ready for something else after the disaster with Fred? Yes, of course, he was not the greatest person, but she still felt as if it was partially her own fault. Like she’d done something to make Fred like that.

“No, nothing too out of the ordinary. I’ve been working on a painting for my art class, but it’s missing something.” Peggy shook away the thoughts in her head. Now was not the time for them.

“What’s it of?”

“Why don’t we finish up our lunches and I’ll show you?”

“I’d like that.”

~~~

Steve unlocked the studio with his keys. Each art student was given keys to the studio room. There was usually always someone working, but today it was empty. It was Friday and most of the students were out enjoying the last bits of nice weather.

Steve led Peggy over to the corner of the room with a cabinet full of canvases. He found the one he was looking for and pulled it out.

“Here, you can throw your backpack there,” he said pointing to a spot next to the window. He’d discarded his bag there when they came in. Peggy followed suit as he put the canvas down on the easel.

She turned around to see a painting similar to one of the sketches he’d done. It was of his parents, sitting together on a bench in a park. There was a bit of empty space in the bottom left of the canvas, but as soon as Peggy saw it, she knew what it needed.

“It’s missing you.”

“What?”

“I think it’s missing you,” she repeated. They were standing shoulder to shoulder staring at the painting. She glanced at Steve’s puzzled face. “Right there in that patch of grass belongs a carefree young little Steven Grant Rogers being watched by his parents as he runs around chasing a butterfly.”

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m not really the “drawing myself” type.”

“You’re not _drawing_ yourself, you’re _painting_ yourself.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Fine, what do you think it needs?”

Steve pictured what Peggy was suggesting. It was a good idea. Even a great idea, to be honest. He could see the scrawny boy he used to be running after the butterfly. He could see himself with his inhaler after that too. He hadn’t needed his inhaler in a long time, but he kept it with him, in case. “No, I think you’re right.”

“I usually am,” she smirked. Steve rolled his eyes again. “Alright, now that that’s settled. What’s next?” Steve gave her a puzzled look as he put away the canvas.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you have any other art I need to examine and give my opinion on?”

He laughed, picking up his bag and leading her back out of the studio. “Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know when I do.”

~~~

Steve had started sitting next to her in history after she came back from England. Peggy usually got there first, always ready with her notebook and pad of sticky notes. Peggy had a habit of writing her to do’s in her notebooks which had been a problem she solved in high school with sticky notes. In the middle of any class, if she thought of something important she had to do later, it went on a sticky note and stuck to her phone or water bottle, depending on the day. Steve had been the victim of her sticky note lists a few times when she insisted she could help him prioritize his own list of to do’s.

Sticky notes aside, Steve always came with coffee in the morning. Peggy knew he’d been up late the night before studying for his art history midterm, and she’d grabbed him his usual coffee order with her coffee. Steve got to class right on time, slipping into the spot next to her and eyeing the coffee suspiciously. He grabbed out his notebook glancing at Peggy who had a smirk on her face, already taking notes on what their professor was talking about. Steve glanced at the coffee cup and took a careful sip. It was exactly how he liked it, bitter with the slightest bit of milk. He smiled, noticing the small sticky note on the cup written with Peggy’s small, neat handwriting.

_You should really work on being on time_

Steve chuckled, taking another sip. He was scribbling down notes and before he knew it class was over. He turned to Peggy, who was in the middle of writing something on a bright yellow sticky note.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

“Knew you’d need it.”

“I’ll get you tea next class.”

Peggy fixed him with a look. “You’ve got me drinks plenty of times. You’ll just be late if you add another stop onto your morning routine.”

Steve laughed, picking up his bag. “You’re right about that one.”

“I thought we established I usually am.”

“Yeah, but you like to hear it.”

Peggy rolled her eyes, following him out of the classroom. God, he was going to be the death of her. And, honestly, she didn’t mind at all.


	11. The SSR and Statues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. That's it that's the notes(she says, as she types more chapter notes). 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's sticking with this story. I don't know how this is all going to play out(I have some plot ideas, but nothing set in stone, and I a few chapters already written out) and I might be starting something else soon... I don't know. Anyway, thank you as always for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. They make my day :)

“You know the SSR is holding elections for their secretary position,” Steve said, looking at Peggy who was sitting across the table from Steve, eating her salad. “You could run. All you have to do is make a speech about something you think needs changed or an issue on campus.” The SSR was the acting student government at the moment. It had taken shape early on in the college’s history, and it had always been the student government. That didn't always mean they were the best at representing the students or what they needed.

“Plenty needs changing around here.”

“So, run and do something about it.”

“Who’s on the board now?”

Steve scrolled down on the web page. “It says some senior named Alexander Pierce is the president. His VP is Nick Fury who’s a junior and the treasurer is Roger Dooley. Their PR chair is Jack from our history class. They have a historian too and that’s Victoria Hand.”

“I’ve heard good things about Nick and Victoria, but less good things about everyone else.”

“Yeah, I heard Dooley is a real ass.”

“Pierce spoke at one of the seminars I went to before committing, and he never had anything good to say.” Peggy took a sip from her coffee.

“So, you think you’ll run?”

“You’re the one good at making passionate speeches. You do it,” she said.

“Not the public speaker type, Pegs.” The nickname came out unintentionally, but Peggy smiled nonetheless.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to run for us both.”

~~~

“Remind me why I’m doing this?”

“Because you’d be great in any of the positions in student government. The secretary is just the one they have open,” Steve said, brushing off the sketch he was working on. “You could easily be the president someday.”

“You know they call the president the “director” for some reason,” Peggy said writing another point on the white-board in the study room. Peggy insisted that If Steve wanted her to run, he had to be a part of creating her speech. “This looks like a bunch of rubbish,” she mumbled, resting her head against the board.

“No, it looks like the beginning of a great speech about how the SSR has ignored the voices of the marginalized people on campus, which is the complete opposite of what they’re supposed to do,” Steve said. “You’ll be great, Peggy.”

“I need an actual speech for it to be great.”

“You have pieces, you just need to put them together.”

“Alright, then you solve this puzzle,” she snapped, gesturing to the mess on the board.

Steve stood, walking over to where she was standing in front of the board. He took the marker out of her hand. “Take a break. Let me fix it, Pegs.”

Peggy left the study room, taking her thermos with her. Steve began drawing lines connecting the different ideas she had mapped out. He wrote down a few other things he thought were important, and then he heard the door close again.

“Connected some dots.”

“I thought this was a puzzle?” Peggy moved to sit on the table, reading over the board.

Steve shrugged, “same idea, different metaphor.” Peggy passed him his own thermos that she’d filled with coffee just the way he liked it.

“It’s I’m sorry I snapped coffee.”

“It’s very good coffee,” he said. “You don’t need to be sorry. I get it.” He gestured to the thermos she had in her hands. “You got yourself some?”

“Tea.” Peggy took a careful sip, savoring the taste. “You made some progress.”

“If you don’t like how I connected them, you can change it.” There was a minute of silence as she looked over what he'd done on the board.

“No, I think it’s perfect.” Peggy got up, taking the marker from his hand. "Let's see what else we can do."

~~~

“You’ll be fine,” Steve reassured her, though he wasn’t sure it was working. He’d never seen Peggy nervous about getting up in front of people. She had always been sure and steady during their history presentations, but something about this speech had her on edge. “Is there something you’re worried about?”

Peggy continued walking alongside Steve. They were making their way up to the top floor of the campus center which was host to many conference rooms clubs used to have their meetings and elections and hearings. She didn’t answer his question right away, chewing at the skin on her lips instead. “This is different than history presentations.”

“Just pretend they’re all wearing underwear.”

“That is the worst idea ever.”

“It’s a saying.”

“Not a very good one,” Peggy mumbled. “It’s just, I really think this could be good and I could do something if I’m on the board, but it’s not going to be some cakewalk even if I do get the position. I’ll still just be a secretary and I have a feeling I’ll be treated like one.”

Steve was quiet as they reached the door of the large conference room. There were chairs lined up so people outside of the club could watch the proceedings. Peggy left Steve at the back of the room, going to the front to be with the other candidates. Steve watched her as she fiddled with her coat and bag, putting them down before smoothing over the dress she was wearing. The blue fabric contrasted with her skin and, at least in Steve’s eyes, made her look both breathtaking and professional.

Soon enough, the meeting was called to order. Alexander Pierce started the meeting off, apologizing that it could only be him, Dooley and Thompson today. Both Fury and Hand had other commitments, but they would be filming all the candidates so they could watch the meeting back later.

Steve listened to all the other students intently. Dooley and Thompson seemed more concerned with asking very strange questions and interrupting many of the candidates before they can even answer fully. Pierce cut in a few times too, making jabs at the women who come up, and Steve could see Peggy chewing her lips raw from his spot in the back of the room.

It was finally Peggy’s turn, and she got up to speak, bringing her notecards with her to the podium. There were still many people at the meeting though she was one of the last members to speak. There were two more students after Peggy and Steve recognized them both. Phil Coulson, who was in their history class and Robert Gonzales who was a senior this year. He was a history major as well, and Steve had met him at commitment day during the summer, but something about him didn’t sit right with Steve.

Steve listened to Peggy’s speech, smiling at the bits he’d helped put in. Regardless of whether she was nervous or not, she gave no indication of it while she spoke. Her voice was clear and her evidence was concise. She spoke to the way minorities were treated on campus and how she wanted to create a space for them to feel more welcome. She covered every great idea and really did a nice job defending her points.

Steve’s stomach dropped when they started to ask her questions.

Jack spoke first, “Marge, this was a real nice pitch, but where are you getting the funding for all these big ideas?” Before she could answer, Jack spoke again. “I mean we _have_ funding, but not for programs like that.”

Dooley spoke right after, not even letting Peggy answer. “Carter, your ideas about representation are already here on campus. We have a center for diversity.”

“Yes, but they—“

“They do a _fine_ job of taking care of any issues students have. We don’t need more of it,” Pierce said. “You’re done, Carter. You can step down.”

Steve watched Peggy step off the small stage with the podium and grab her things from the chair. She went down the hallway off the conference room. Steve waited for the next lull and left, following in her direction. He went down the steps and ended up on the main floor of the Campus Center. He glanced around trying to find her before eyeing the doors that led to the art exhibits. He walked quickly over and pushed open the doors. There weren’t any people that Steve found as he walked into the exhibit, but he found her sitting on the bench in front of Dr. Erskine’s statue.

“Hey,” he said softly. Peggy looked up from where she’d been staring at the statue. “Are you alright?”

“They ripped my ideas to shreds up there,” she said. Steve came over and sat next to her. She dropped her head into her hands. “It’s not like I expected them to listen to me, but I thought they’d at least be respectful in some way.”

“I’m sorry they treated you like that. Roger, Alex, and Jack, they’re in it for the power and not much else. And, they’ll do anything to keep that power, especially when someone like you comes along. You were put together, organized, concise, and they took you down with convoluted arguments.”

Peggy lifted her head and looked at the statue in front of her again.“The SSR was supposed to be a way of protecting students and they’ve gone and mucked it up. Seems they have the power though so,” Peggy sighed, "what are us mortals here to do?"

Steve moved the smallest inch over and put an arm around her, rubbing her back. “You know, the whole point of the statue wasn’t power.” Peggy turned her head towards him, giving him a questioning glance. “Erskine wanted it to be a symbol of breaking down systems of oppression. The shield was supposed to be the “weapon” I guess you could say. But that shield’s first use is protection, not something to take someone down with it. He wanted to stress compassion and protection more than power dynamics.”

“They don’t want to protect people, and they don’t have compassion,” Peggy mumbled, leaning into his touch.

“Yes, but I’m pretty sure you do.” Peggy huffed a laugh. “I’m serious. You’re compassionate, and you care about people.”

“My mother would say otherwise,” Peggy mumbled.

“You flew back home on short notice to be with your brother. You help Angie with her lines, and you’ve helped me pass all the history tests. You got up there today because you care about people.”

“You’re really good at these motivational talks, you know that?”

Steve laughed, “well, I had to be good at something.”

“You’re good at a lot more things than that.” Steve rolled his eyes, and scoffed. “Don’t make me slap you.”

“I’m shutting my mouth,” he said, miming zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Peggy smiled and Steve smiled back. “There’s that smile,” he whispered. He reached up and cupped her face. God, she was beautiful, and he wanted to kiss her. She leaned in closer, bringing her hand to his face. “Peggy, I—“ Before he could say anything, she closed the space between them, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was soft and sweet, and Peggy pulled away after a few seconds.

“Was that… okay?” Instead of answering, he kissed her again, longer, but still just as sweet. He pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers. “I’m assuming that’s a yes.”

“Do you... uh, want to get some dinner with me sometime?”

“We do that all the time, Steve. You’ll have to be more specific,” Peggy deadpanned. Steve rolled his eyes and kissed her again.

“A nice dinner, just you and me. I’ll pick you up and we can go on a date.”

“I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!
> 
> I wrote a lot of these first chapters before publishing any of this, and I've been waiting for this one to finally be out there. I hope you all enjoyed it :)


	12. Rain and Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos :) I appreciate each and everyone one of you. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and there's more coming soon

Steve was standing outside Peggy’s door. He wanted to bring flowers for their first date, but he thought what he’d done was better. He was holding a picture frame he’d wrapped and was rocking back and forth on his heals. Angie finally came to the door and opened it. 

“Come on in, Steve,” Angie said. Steve came into their room, and the sight of Peggy left him at loss for words. 

She wore a navy blue dress with a brown leather jacket overtop. She wore brown ankle boots that were the same shade of brown as her jacket. Her hair was down, but her curls framed her face well. 

“You look amazing,” he breathed. 

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said. Steve was wearing tan pants, a blue button up, and his dress shoes. His dress shoes were the only pair of shoes that weren’t stained with flecks of paint. 

“I know everyone brings flowers, but it’s sort of flowers, but they don’t die.” He handed her the wrapped present and she raised an eyebrow. She carefully took the paper off and her eyes softened. 

“Steve, it’s lovely,” she said softly. He’d done a drawing of a bouquet of flowers, the colors were vibrant and beautiful. “Thank you,” she said, setting the frame down on her desk. 

“Alright, stop the eye sex and get outta here,” Angie said, shooing them out the door. 

“I’ll be back later, Angie.” 

“Take good care of her, Brooklyn,” Angie said, shutting the door. 

Steve looked at Peggy with a soft smile. “My car’s outside,” he said, leading her down the hallway. He felt his hand brush the back of hers. Peggy had initiated the first kiss, so Steve figured it was time for him to make a move. He carefully took her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers. 

“Is this okay?” Steve didn’t want to overstep in anyway, and Peggy realized that. She was happy her was asking her instead of assuming, as many guys did. 

“Yes, I quite enjoy it actually,” she said, and Steve smiled. 

He led her down to his truck and opened the door for her. She thanked him, getting into the car and settling in the seat. 

Steve got into the driver’s seat and started the car. “So, where would you like to go to eat?” 

“I was thinking Italian food might be good.” 

“There’s this restaurant in town that has great Italian food.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Peggy said. “What made you think of the flowers?” 

“My ma loves flowers, but always complains that they die too fast, so I thought drawing them would let them last at least a bit longer.” 

“I think it’s brilliant.” 

~~~

Their dinner went by seamlessly, other than an initial five minutes of awkward small talk, it was amazing. They ended up splitting the check(because Peggy reused to let Steve pay) and they were getting ready to leave. Steve opened the door to leave and realized it was pouring outside. 

“I can go get the car—“ 

“I’m not scared of a little rain, Steve.” 

“Should we make a run for it?” 

“Race you to the car, Captain?” Peggy looked at him, already smirking. Steve rolled his eyes. He didn’t know how Peggy was going to run in the rain in boots or how he was going to run in dress shoes and slacks, but it seemed like a fitting end to their date.

“You’re on, Carter.”

Peggy won, getting in the car a split second before Steve. They were both drenched and out of breath, smiling at each other like idiots. 

“I have no idea how you just did that in boots and in the rain,” Steve said, starting the car and turning on the heat. 

“If I can’t run in shoes, I don’t buy them,” she said, shrugging with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep the fact that I beat you a secret from the guys.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and backed out of the parking spot. “I was planning on having a nice walk outside, but that seems like it’s out the window.” 

“We should probably get back and change out of these wet clothes,” Peggy suggested. 

“Probably,” he said. “I’ll drop you off at your dorm.” 

“I’d hate to cut our date short though.” 

“What else do you want to do?” 

“We could get changed and watch a movie back in my room. Angie has rehearsals until ten tonight so we’ve got a while.” 

“Sounds great,” Steve said. 

~~~

Steve heard the lock of the door click and looked up from where he was seated in Peggy’s bed. She’d dozed off not long ago, and was asleep against his chest. He hadn’t wanted to wake her because she looked so peaceful and she deserved to get some sleep. 

“English?” Angie came into the room and spotted Steve and Peggy. Steve put a finger to his lips. Angie eyed her sleeping roommate, giving her the once over. “She works too hard,” Angie said softly. 

Angie went about her business, paying little mind to the pair. She had to shower and do some work anyway. The movie they were watching ended and Steve shut the laptop resting on his legs. He was just trying to move so Peggy could get some sleep, but his movement caused her to wake up. 

“Hm?” Peggy yawned, taking in her surroundings. “Did I fall asleep?” 

“Yeah, Pegs, you did.” 

“Sorry,” she said, further curling up next to him. “You’re warm.” 

Steve chuckled, “alright, I should let you get some sleep.” 

“You can stay if you want,” Peggy said softly. “Angie won’t mind, I asked.” 

“I—“ he stuttered. He didn’t want things to move too fast, but honestly, Steve didn’t really want to leave her bed at the moment. “I don’t want to overstep,” he said. He’d never slept in the same bed as anyone before, and wasn’t quite sure what all ‘staying the night’ encompassed. 

“Steve, are you alright?” Peggy was a bit more awake now and lifted her head from his chest. She sensed something was wrong and when she looked at his face, she knew something was up. “Is something the matter?” 

“I just, uh,” he mumbled. “I don’t want to move too fast.” 

“Hey,” she said softly. “If you don’t want to sleep here, that’s quite alright, Steve.” 

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as you. It’s just...” He took her hand in hers and squeezed. “I’ve never, umm…”

Peggy gave him a puzzled look before the pieces seemed to fit in her head. “Steve,” her voice was soft and she touched his forearm before giving his hand a squeeze. 

“I’m not ready to have sex yet,” he said softly. “I didn’t know if you wanted to, or, uh… sorry.” 

Peggy squeezed his hands again, meeting his eyes. “I’m not ready to have sex either, and even if I was I’d make sure you were okay with it first.” 

“You’re the first person to ask me to spend the night, and I just didn’t know if that was part of what you had in mind.”

Peggy gave him a soft smile. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. I’m glad we had this talk though.” 

“Yeah,” Steve said softly. “If you still want me to stay—“ 

“You don’t have to if you’re not ready.” 

“I know,” he said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “But waking up tangled in blankets with you sounds pretty great to me.” 

“Well, then it’s settled. Let’s find you my largest pair of sweatpants that way you’re not sleeping in your jeans.” 

The sweatpants were snug, but they did the job. Peggy changed into her pajamas and while Steve was getting changed in the men’s bathroom down the hall, double checked with Angie it was fine that Steve sleep there for the night. She smiled and reassured her it was fine before going to brush her teeth. 

Steve came back before Angie and they got settled in Peggy’s bed. It was a tight fit, but they both fell asleep quickly, wrapped in each other’s arms.


	13. Introductions and Nerves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you as always to everyone who comments, reads, and leaves kudos. Thank you for sticking with me and my weird posting schedule. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. There's chapter notes at the end bc what I wanna say is long so please read those if you're interested in where I got my idea for the alternate thanksgiving things that happen. 
> 
> ONE last thing, the ending of this chapter was inspired by a one shot that someone wrote and I can't for the life of me find it again/figure out who wrote it. Kudos to them for writing something so amazing and if anyone knows/has read/is the one that wrote that fic, please please please let me know and I will 100% give credit to you/them. UPDATE I FOUND IT: It's called "They Would Have Loved You" and it's by TriplePiroutte and I CRIED reading it so if you want something to cry over, here you go.

“What are you doing for thanksgiving break?”

“We don’t celebrate thanksgiving in England,” Peggy said, sipping her coffee. “So, I was going to start prepping for finals.”

“You’re welcome to come home with me,” Angie said. “My family will welcome you with open arms.”

“Thank you, Angie, but I think I’ll be fine.”

“What are we talking about?” Natasha sat down next to Angie and Steve sat down next to Peggy. They were all having lunch together a few days before break.

“Thanksgiving,” Angie said. “I’m going home and Peggy’s prepping for finals.”

“We don’t celebrate thanksgiving, and it’s not worth it to fly home for a day and fly back for classes when I’m going home for Christmas break.”

Steve glanced at Peggy. He didn’t want her to have to stay on campus alone. Angie and Nat started talking about their plans and Steve turned to Peggy. “If you want to come home with me, you’re more than welcome to, Pegs.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude on your time with your mother. And I’d rather not celebrate, to be honest.”

“We don’t celebrate thanksgiving either. My ma makes some Native American food and she has this documentary planned for Thursday that talks about Native American people. My gram comes over on Friday night mostly because I’m home and it’s nice to have a family dinner. Ma would be more than happy to have you at dinner too.”

“Steve.”

“Not joking. I’ll call her right now.” Steve took out his phone and called his mother.

“Hello?”

“Hey, ma,” Steve said with a smile. “How are you?”

“I’m alright, honey, how are you?”

“I’m doing good. I just had a quick question about break.”

“What?”

“Can Peggy stay with us? She’s not flying home, and I thought it would be nice to have her,” Steve said, glancing at Peggy next to him. Peggy rolled her eyes, but squeezed his hand.

“Of course she can, Steve.”

“Great, I’ll let her know. Thanks, ma, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Steve ended the call and turned to Peggy. “She said yes, so you’re roped in now.”

“I appreciate it Steve. Thank you,” she said softly, kissing his cheek. “How did your mom learn all the food and history?”

“She’s teaches fourth graders and has always made sure to speak up for the marginalized. When she learned about the real history behind thanksgiving, she set up this program at the school district to donate money to Native American tribes that need help. She found people who were educated and willing to teach her, and she’s been teaching her students about the true history ever since.”

“Your mother is an amazing woman,” Peggy said.

The conversation dissolved after that before Natasha spoke. “Peggy, did they announce the secretary position?” Nat asked.

“Gonzales won,” Peggy said. “I’m glad I didn’t win, actually. They would have treated me poorly and it’s better this way.”

“Well, we’re proud of you, Peggy,” Angie said with a smile.

“And, who knows, maybe someone will hear about your ideas and you’ll be the president of everything someday,” Steve said.

“Maybe someday,” she said.

~~~

“You don’t have to be nervous.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re chewing at the skin of your lips. You always do that when you’re nervous.”

Peggy rolled her eyes at Steve who was driving them to Brooklyn for break. “You’re one to talk. You fidget when you’re nervous. When you drive you rub your hands on the steering wheel.”

“I don’t—“ Steve stopped his statement, feeling his hands rubbing the fabric of the steering wheel at that moment. Peggy laughed, smiling at him. “I know meeting my ma is kind of a big step and we’ve only officially claimed the title of dating about week ago.”

“Is anyone else coming dinner?”

“My grandmother’s coming, but I told you that.”

“Two amazing people to meet,” Peggy mumbled. “Okay, I’m nervous.”

“You’ll be fine,” Steve said. “They’ll probably just tell embarrassing stories about me.”

“Well, I can get behind that,” Peggy laughed, taking his hand where it rested on the gearshift between them.

~~~

Steve put the car in park, looking over at Peggy. She’d just reapplied her signature red lipstick(because she’d chewed at her lips the whole drive) and was looking anxiously at Steve.

“Alright, let’s get inside.”

“Wait,” Peggy said, pulling his face to hers and giving her a soft kiss. “There, now we’re all ready.” Steve blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d wipe the lipstick off your face before we get inside.”

Steve laughed, grabbing his duffle from the back. “I’ll get you back, Carter.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

They got out of the car and walked up the stairs to the townhouse. Steve unlocked the door and led her inside. There was a staircase leading upstairs and they were standing in the living room. There was a doorway off of that, looking like it led to the dining room.

“Ma?”

“I’m in the kitchen, Steve.”

Steve glanced at Peggy, giving her a soft kiss in her hair. “Just set your bag down here. We can take them up in a minute.” They left their backpacks and duffle bags in the hallway and Steve led her into the living room first. They turned and went into the dining room which opened up to the kitchen. It smelled like spaghetti and homemade bread, and Peggy smiled. Steve’s mother turned around and greeted them with a smile.

“Hi, Ma,” he said coming into the kitchen to hug her. Peggy smiled at the pair. Though Steve was about a half a foot taller than his mother, she could tell they were related. He had his mother’s eyes and blonde hair. Sarah turned away from her son and made her way to Peggy.

“You must be Peggy,” she said, giving Peggy a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you, dear.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Rogers.”

“Please, call me Sarah,” she said, pulling away from her. “How was the drive?”

“We didn’t hit any major traffic,” Steve said. “Though, I think Bucky lucked out having class canceled and getting to come home a day early.” He was already busy with the stove, stirring at the sauce and the pot of noodles.

“Well, that’s good. Why don’t you both go get settled upstairs? Dinner should be ready soon.”

“Sounds good to me,” Steve said. “Come on, I’ll show you the guest room, Pegs.”

~~~

Steve was right about the embarrassing stories they were telling. Steve’s mom and grandmother went back and fourth telling embarrassing stories about him, Steve would blush, and Peggy already knew even though she’d never seen him without a shirt on that the blush covered his chest.

Both of them, of course, loved Peggy, and Steve was repeatedly told how lucky he was by his grandmother. Dinner was delicious, and Peggy had learned a lot about the different Native American dishes Steve’s mother had put together for their dinner on Friday. She had a whole documentary they watched the night before as well that spoke to a lot of the Native tribes and the trauma that they endured throughout history. Sarah Rogers was committed to teaching about these topics in her classroom and made sure to bring the lessons home to her family.

Sarah had taken Steve’s grandmother home Friday night since she couldn’t drive herself. She came back to find Peggy and Steve asleep on the couch. Peggy’s head had fallen to his shoulder and they looked so peaceful. Sarah smiled and went to go wake her son.

“Steve, honey?” She shook his shoulder lightly, and he woke up. He glanced up at his mom and smiled.

“Hey, did Gram get back okay?”

“She’s fine, Steve. Why don’t you two kids go to bed? It’s late.”

Steve rubbed at his eyes and noticed Peggy asleep next to him. “I’ll wake her and get her upstairs. We cleaned up the kitchen and everything else is put away.”

“Thank you, honey, now go get some sleep, and make sure Peggy does too.”

~~~

It was the last day of their trip and Steve knew there was something he had to do before they left. The car was packed and they were going back up to school a night early so they could get reacquainted and settle in for the home stretch of finals. He was in the kitchen speaking softly with his mom when Peggy came down the steps.

“You ready?” Steve turned to Peggy and gave her a soft smile. She noted it didn’t reach his eyes, but didn’t say anything right then.

“If you are, then yes, I’m ready.”

“It was so nice to meet you, Peggy.” Steve’s mother hugged her and pulled away quickly. “You are always welcome here, in case that wasn’t clear already.”

“Thank you for letting me stay, Mrs. Rogers, truly. I appreciate it.”

“Any time, dear.”

“I’ll let you know when we get back to campus, ma,” Steve said hugging his mom.

“Drive safe. I love you,” she said, kissing her son’s cheek.

“Love you too, ma.”

Steve led Peggy out to the car. He’d started the heat about ten minutes ago, so it was warm for them. Peggy looked over at him and took his hand. “Darling, are you alright?”

He squeezed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I have to make one stop before we leave.”

“Do you want me to drive? You look tired.”

“You don’t have to—“

“Switch. You can direct me,” Peggy said.

So, they switched spots and Steve guided her to the place he wanted to go. Peggy understood why he’d looked so sad and exhausted as they pulled into the gates of the cemetery. She didn’t say a word as he directed her to park on the side.

“You don’t have to come with me,” he said softly.

“Darling, I can come with you. Do you want to be alone?” Her voice matched his soft tone and he shook his head no in response. Peggy leaned over and kissed his lips softly before turning to leave the car.

Steve found her gloved hand instantly and treaded his fingers through hers. He squeezed her hand as they walked along the small path.

Steve stopped in front of the stone bearing his father’s name. He was quiet for a minute, before he spoke. “My dad would have liked you,” he whispered. “He was a history professor, but he always did have special interest in the law like you.” He paused, taking a breath. “I always come when I’m in the city and have time.”

“He sounds like an amazing person,” Peggy whispered.

“He would have roped you into a historical law conversation as soon as you came through the door. He liked to sing like you do, too. He used to sing to me all the time as a kid. My ma can’t carry a tune, but he loved to sing and dance with her in the kitchen. He’s gone, and I know he’s not here, but when I come it makes me feel like he is.”

“We can stay as long as you want, darling.”

He pressed a kiss into her hair and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Thank you,” he whispered. Peggy didn’t answer, just pulled him closer, and he knew what she meant. He pressed another kiss into the dark strands of her hair thinking, _god, I love her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this before thanksgiving, but that didn't happen, but anyway 
> 
> To anyone reading, Thanksgiving is not a respectful holiday for Native Americans and that is why it is not celebrated in this story in the way most people normally do in the United States. I have tried to write this chapter in a way that draws attention to the trauma faced by Native Americans(while also keeping with the story I'm telling). It’s really easy to look up ways to celebrate Thanksgiving more respectfully online, or if you are able, you can choose to not celebrate. I think it’s very important to talk about these traumas even here. In a class I am currently taking, we spoke to how teachers in some places are learning more about Native American history and bringing it into their classrooms, so that is incorporated here as well. These two websites are where I started learning, and there is a lot more information about it, so please research Native Americans and support them if you are able.  
> https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/8-ways-decolonize-and-honor-native-peoples-thanksgiving  
> https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmdmb8/how-to-celebrate-thanksgiving-on-stolen-land


	14. Packing, Presents, and More Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is sticking with me and my "posting schedule". Thank you all for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos :)

The last stretch of classes and finals were rough, but Peggy and Steve both finished the day before they had to leave. They’d slept in Steve’s room because Bucky had already gone home. Peggy was still sleeping when Steve woke up. He moved out of the bed to let her sleep, and made tea. He, as Peggy had said on more than one occasion, excelled at making her tea. Just as the Keurig finished off his coffee, Peggy rolled over in bed.

“Hey, sleepy head,” he said.

“Good morning,” she mumbled.

“I made some tea for you,” he said. Peggy pushed the blankets off her shoulders and sat up against the wall, taking the mug from Steve.“Come sit with me,” she said softly, taking his hand. Steve gave her a soft smile and joined her, letting her rest against his chest. He pressed a kiss into the dark strands of her hair. “When do we need to leave?”

“In a few hours. I thought we could grab all our bags and go get some breakfast somewhere nice, and then hit the road. We should make it to the city a little after lunch, but we can stop and get lunch somewhere too, if you want.”

“You think of everything.”

“It’s why you like me so much.”

Peggy laughed, but didn’t disagree. Steve saw the sparkle in her eyes, and thigh he didn’t want to jump the gun, he knew in his heart that he loved her.

~~~

They’d stayed the night at Steve’s and they drove to the airport early the next morning to get Peggy on her plane. He walked her in and when they had to part ways, Peggy pulled him down to her height and kissed him.

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered.

“I’ll miss you too,” he breathed. “Call anytime.”

“Same to you.”

There was a bit of silence before Steve kissed her again. “Be safe.”

“You too, my darling.” The name made Steve blush and Peggy laughed. “I’ll see you soon enough, Steve.”

~~~

“I wish you were here,” Peggy mumbled into the phone. “I have a Christmas present for you.”

“Funny, I have one for you too,” Steve yawned and buried himself further into the covers on his bed. “I though about mailing it, but I think it would be better in person.”

“I thought similarly.”

“I could fly out for a few days. Meet your brother and your parents. Then I’d get to see you and give you your present in person.”

“I’ll ask my parents what they think about it. Right after Christmas? Or do you want to wait till I haven’t seen you since last year.”

“Very funny. But I’ll ask my mom tomorrow what she thinks is best.”

“Alright,” Peggy breathed. “I think it’s time for you to sleep. It’s almost one there.”

“I’m not tired,” he claimed, but right after he yawned again. “Maybe I should get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Steve.”

“Night, Pegs.”

~~~

Peggy practically tackled him when she picked him up at the airport. It was a few days after New Years and Steve was staying with the Carter’s for the remainder of winter break, which was about a week, and they were both flying back to New York together to go to school.

“Hey Pegs,” he whispered, burying his nose in the strands of her brown hair. He’d missed her significantly over the course of the few weeks they’d been apart. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, my darling.” They stood in the middle of the airport hugging for a few minutes before Peggy tipped her head up and their lips met for a soft kiss. “Well, we should get back to the house. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Is it bad that I’m nervous?”

“About what? Driving on the other side of the road, or meeting my family?” She put her fingers through his and led him out of the airport to their car.

“Now that you mention the driving thing, both,” he laughed. She helped him put his luggage in the car and then Steve tried to get into the driver’s side.

“Other side, darling,” she said, laughing.

“Oh yeah,” he smiled, circling around to the passenger seat.

Once they were in the car, Peggy leaned over and give him another long, more passionate kiss. She pulled away from him and smirked. “You might want to wipe that lipstick off your face before we get there, Captain,” she laughed. Steve wiped at his face which caused Peggy to laugh more as she pulled out onto the road. “How’s your mum?”

“She’s good. She practically shoved me out the door.” They both laughed. “I felt bad I was leaving her alone, but she’s back at school, I was just hanging out at home, drawing or helping my mom at school, and I hate being a human jungle gym.”

“I can imagine that wouldn’t be pleasant.” Peggy pulled into their driveway and looked over at Steve. “You ready?”

“Nervous that your mom won’t approve, but I’m ready.”

“Even if she doesn’t, my dad will like you.”

“What about Michael?”

“You’re nothing like Fred,” she deadpanned. “He’s going to love you.”

Peggy tried to help him with his bags, but he refused. “Peg, I can’t have your family think I make you carry my stuff for me.”

Peggy rolled her eyes and lead him into the house. It was warm and there was a fire going in the fire place. No one was in the living room but you could tell someone was cooking in the kitchen.

“Peggy? Is that you?”

“Yes, mum. We’ll be just a minute.” Peggy dragged him up the staircase to a small landing with three doors. “You are sleeping with me,” she whispered, “my mother thinks you’re sleeping in Michael’s room, but the air mattress we have is old and I don’t care what my mother thinks.”

She led him through the door on the left into what he assumed was her room. She helped him put down his luggage and led him back down the ground floor of their house. They walked through the dining room and into a medium sized kitchen. Peggy’s mother was standing at the island when they came in and smiled when she saw them.

“You must be Steve,” Peggy’s mother said, holding out a hand for him to shake.

Steve took her hand and shook it. “I’m so glad to finally meet you, Mrs. Carter. You have a lovely home.”

“Why thank you,” Peggy’s mom smiled. “Your father and Michael are outside having a snowball fight I’m assuming. I thought they were going to shovel that snow off the walkways, but apparently they are not.”

“Do you need any help with dinner, Mrs. Carter?”

“No, dear. It’s almost ready, but thank you.Do you two want to set the table?”

“Sure, mum.” Peggy immediately went to the cabinet with plates in it, handing five to Steve. He took them into the dining room and Peggy followed with silverware and cloth napkins. They filled a glass of water and put it at each place as well.

“Peggy go get your brother and your father before they bury themselves in the snow!”

Peggy rolled her eyes, but gave Steve a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

Steve followed her into the kitchen and helped Peggy’s mother carry the food into the dining room. Peggy came back in with snowflakes in her brown curls. Steve smiled at her, committing the image of her to his memory. He’d love to sketch her with rosy cheeks, red lips, and the snow in her hair.

Michael and Peggy’s father came in after her. They were both covered in snow and smiling. Michael came over to Steve and shook his hand.

“You must be Steve. It’s great to meet you,” Michael said.

“It’s great to meet you too, Michael. How have you been doing?”

“A lot better, recently. Thanks again for driving my sister to the airport.”

“It was nothing,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s really great to meet you, Steve,” Peggy’s dad said, shaking his hand. “We’re so glad you could come and stay with us.”

“It’s great to meet you too, Mr. Carter. Thank you for letting me come and stay, I really appreciate it.”

“Alright, enough of this, dinner’s ready. You two snow-covered people go get dry clothes on.” Peggy’s mother practically pushed them in the directions of their respective rooms. They all ended up in the dining room and they had a nice dinner. Steve was definitely grilled by Peggy’s parents with questions, but there were plenty of stories about Peggy as a child too.

They all ended up in the living room, and eventually it was time for bed. Peggy dragged Steve up the stairs and let him change in her room while she spoke to Michael.

“You’re shacking up with him in your room?”

“No, I am not shacking up with him!” Peggy slapped Michael’s arm. “He’s not sleeping on some air mattress at the foot of your bed. You’ll pester him all night.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll be good and tell mom he’s sleeping in here.”

“That was easier than I thought.”

“Well, you are my favorite sister.”

“Your only sister better be your favorite sister,” she smirked. “Night, Michael.”

“Night, Peggy.”

Peggy came back to Steve standing in her room, looking around. He gave her a soft smile when she returned. “Hey.”

“Do you wanna take a shower, or do you need anything?”

“No, I’ll probably shower in the morning.”

“Alright, let me just get changed and we can go to bed. You must be tired from the flight.”

“I slept a bit on the plane,” he said, turning so she could change with out him seeing. They weren’t ready for that just yet.

“That’s good. Sorry about my mother, she can be a bit… um… proper at times.”

“Your mother was perfectly fine, Pegs.”

“You can turn around now, I’m decent.”

Steve turned around to see her in her pajamas and smiled. He crossed the short distance to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, darling.”

“Let’s get some sleep,” he mumbled against her hair.

~~~

After a long day of seeing the sights in London, they went back to Peggy’s family home. She pulled him up the stairs, promising they could exchange Christmas presents once they were in their pajamas.

Steve went to the bathroom and changed while Peggy changed in her room. He came back, knocking before he came in. Peggy was already seated on her bed with what Steve assumed was a present for him.

“Hang on, let me get mine for you and we can swap.” Steve dug to the bottom of his suitcase and pulled out two boxes. One was smaller than the other and both were wrapped a little haphazardly. “Sorry about the wrap job. No matter how hard Ma tries, she can’t teach me to wrap.”

The both laughed, exchanging presents. “You open first,” Peggy insisted.

“Ladies first.”

“Nice try, Captain, you outrank me, so go.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but knew fighting her would do no good. There were two boxes in front of him and he opened the smaller one first. It was a new sketchbook. He began to flip through the pages, and smiled. “This is perfect. I’ve been needing a new one.”

“That one has thicker paper as well. They say it can stand up to paint, so any medium you’d like can go in there.”

“I will definitely have to test that out.” He carefully put the sketchbook back into the box and moved it aside. He opened the second box and laughed. Inside was a grey hoodie, modeled after the one he’d been wearing the night of their almost kiss that had been his dads. It had Erskine’s statue on it, but it was advertising the Howling Commandoes Running Club. His last name was written on the back along with the word “captain” in quotations. “I love it, Peggy. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it. It should fit you right, but if it doesn’t, we can get a bigger or smaller one.”

“Alright, Pegs, it’s your turn.”

Peggy gave him a soft smile before opening the smaller box first. She opened it and found a necklace inside. It was about the size of a quarter, shaped exactly like the shield in Erskine’s statue. “Oh, Steve, it’s beautiful. I love it.”

“Turn it over.” She did as she was told and turned it over. _For the woman who has power and compassion_ , was engraved in small letters across the back. Peggy’s eyes went soft, and she immediately pulled his lips to hers for a kiss. “I take it you like it?”

“I _love_ it. Thank you, Steve.” She carefully put it back in it’s box, knowing she’d wear that shield every day. She moved it to her nightstand and opened the second box. She moved the tissue paper aside and found an assortment of stationary. There were a few pads of sticky notes, in her favorite colors, the only type of blue pens she liked to used, and a new planner for the new year. “Oh, my darling, this is perfect. How did you know I needed a new one?”

“I saw yours only went to the end of the year, and I found one with a similar style to the one you already have.” He shrugged, giving her a soft smile Peggy now knew was reserved only for her.

“Thank you, my darling. Happy Christmas,” she said, pulling him close for another kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Pegs.”


	15. Late Nights, Advice, and a New Semester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken me so long to update. I just finished up my semester and finals were stressful, but thankfully it's over now. 
> 
> As always, thank you to everyone reading, leaving comments, and leaving kudos! I hope you all enjoy the chapter :)

Peggy ended up with an introductory physics course in her schedule to satisfy a requirement for graduation in the spring semester. She hoped to god there would be competent people to do the labs with. She sat down at an empty table, but the class soon filled up with kids. Their professor came in a few minutes later and began rearranging their seats so they were with their class groups and their lab partners.

Peggy sat next to a guy she immediately labeled as “frat guy material.” He didn’t look like the type of person she wanted to be doing basic physics labs with. He introduced himself as Howard Stark. Peggy hoped to god he was more competent than he looked.

As soon as they went to the board to do a problem, she knew she should never judge a book by its cover.

Howard was able to do the problem mostly all in his head with no other guidance. Peggy knew a bit about physics from her high school classes, but Howard seemed to know much more than that. Maybe, this partnership wouldn’t be so bad.

At the end of class, Howard turned to her and struck up a conversation. “So, Margaret, it looks like you and I are partners.”

“Yes, it seems that way. You can call me Peggy, by the way.”

“Well, Peg, you seem pretty smart and you are stunning. What do you say we get some lunch?”

“Thank you, but I have a boyfriend.” She was close to slapping him, but at least he hadn’t only called her pretty. He at least acknowledged she was intelligent.

“Well, when you eventually break this guy’s heart, give me a call.”

“One more snide remark, and you’ll be stuck with no one as your lab partner.”

“Message received. Well, I’ll see you around, Peg.”

Peggy rolled her eyes, making her way out of the classroom, desperately hoping he meant what he said.

~~~

“I feel like I’m going to screw things up with Steve,” Peggy said, fiddling with the small silver shield around her neck.

“What? Why on _earth_ would you say that?!” Angie had just come back from her shift at the local diner, The Automat, and was tugging off her uniform. “You two are so right for each other.”

“I know, and I really like him. I’m just scared I’ll muck things up. My last relationship was a bit of a mess, and… I don’t know, I just feel—“

“Like you were the reason, but you weren’t because Fred Wells is a dick and you’re a perfectly fine human being that was in a bad situation?”

“ _Angie_.”

“English, fight with me all you want,” she jumped onto her bed, letting out a huff. “But, you and Steve are pretty perfect together. Yes, okay, if you want me to somewhat agree with you, you can be stubborn and a smart ass sometimes, but Steve loves that about you.”

“And how do you know this?” Peggy was sitting on her bed facing her roommate, who was on her stomach, flopped on her bed.

“God! You’d think you didn’t even know you were in a goddamn relationship, Peggy.”She flipped over and started talking again. “He makes those eyes at you every single time he sees you. His eyes go all soft when you’re stubborn about anything, even if it’s where you get dinner. He loves letting you win arguments even if they’re not actually arguments because he knows he has no business out talking a future lawyer to be, but every time his eyes get so soft and he looks at you like you’re the world now come _on_ already.”

Peggy was speechless for a few seconds. “I—I didn’t realize I was so blind.”

“Well, now you’ve got the tea on your own relationship.”

“You’re a good friend, Angie,” she said.

“And don’t you forget it, English.”

~~~

Peggy planned on staying the night in Steve’s room. Bucky was planning on staying over Nat’s. (“It’s _not_ a date you love-sick assholes!” Bucky had claimed, but the glint in his eyes said he hoped otherwise.) It had been a long day, and Peggy was looking forward to getting some sleep.

For some reason, sleep didn’t seem to want to come.

Her mind kept going over endless things that had happened in the past with Fred. She tried not to move much, but she couldn’t find a spot that was comfortable. It was around one in the morning that Friday night when she got out of bed, rubbing at her eyes. Peggy hoped Steve would stay asleep. She grabbed a water bottle out of their fridge and took a few careful sips. She watched Steve roll over, seeming to grab for her before he woke up. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and came over to where she was standing in the dark room.

“You alright?”

“Yes,” she lied. “Just, not sleeping well.” He wrapped her in his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Sorry I woke you.”

He ignored her statement, rubbing her back instead. “You wanna come back to bed? Or you wanna make cookies?”

“What?”

“We could go make some cookies,” he shrugged. “I got the ingredients thinking we could make some chocolate chip cookies together, and now seems like as good a time as any.”

“At one in the morning?”

“We can make some tea and have some cookies and then we can come back here, curl up and enjoy them. By then you’ll be so exhausted and warm from the cookies and tea, you’ll be bound to sleep.” Peggy didn’t respond, but burrowed further into his arms. “Put on your socks and shoes,” he whispered, placing another kiss to her head.

“Darling, we don’t—“

“Nope, already made up my mind, and _I’m_ hungry for cookies.” Peggy pulled him down to her height and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Steve smiled, returning the wonderful sensation of their lips being together. He kissed her cheeks and her temple before pulling away to get his shoes.

Steve locked the door behind them and led her down to the deserted kitchen. There was no one in there, so they went in and began to get everything set up. There was a steady thrum of music coming from somewhere else in the building, and there were plenty of students walking around outside the windows. It was a Friday night after all.

“You want some music?” Steve turned to her, thumbing at his phone. Peggy nodded, and he tapped at his phone before picking a playlist. It was old school music, but Peggy didn’t question his tastes. They worked shoulder to shoulder at the counter, measuring out ingredients and forming the dough and cooking them. Once they were in the oven, Steve pulled Peggy into his arms.

“Thank you, darling,” she mumbled against his chest.

“For what?”

“Staying up with me and making cookies just because I couldn’t get to sleep.”

“Of course,” he breathed.

The song shifted to one Peggy was familiar with. It was slower, and she had an idea. “Have you ever danced before?”

“Like ballroom?” Peggy nodded and watched as a flush came to his cheeks. “No, uh, I’m a pretty terrible dancer. It’s why I could never get dates to the school dances.”

“Well, I want to dance to this song,” she smirked. “Care to be my dance partner?”

“Peg—“

“I’ll show you how,” she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. She positioned his arms and began to guide them as they swayed in the kitchen together. Soon, Peggy was settled against Steve’s chest, and they were dancing in time with the music. “You’re not as bad as you thought, darling.”

“Well, I do have a pretty great teacher.” He kissed her softly and pulled her closer. The oven beeped, signaling the end of their cookies being done. “Time to take those cookies out.”

“They smell good.”

“Let’s pull them out before we’re those people who set the fire alarm off.”

They took the cookies out and put them onto a plate after they cooled for a few minutes. They carried everything back to Steve’s room. Steve started on the tea as Peggy climbed into his bed. He carried two mugs over to the bed and climbed up with Peggy. She curled up against his chest and took the mug he held out to her.

“Thank you, my darling.”

“Anything for you, Pegs.” They sat, talking quietly until Peggy was dozing off against his chest. “Alright, time for bed.”

“Steve?”

“Hm?” He took the plate of cookies that they had left and their empty mugs, setting them on his desk. He turned around to look at her, giving her the small smile that was only reserved for her. He took her breath away, and she felt like she could see herself with him for years and years to come. _God, she loved him_ and the words were so close to falling from her lips. “Pegs?”

“Sorry,” she said shaking her head, “what were you saying?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Right, I just—umm…” Peggy shook her head again. “Never mind.”

Steve just shrugged and yawned, climbing in bed with her. “Thanks for making cookies with me.”

“Thanks for being a great dance partner,” she mumbled, curling against his chest.

“Night, Pegs,” he said with a yawn.

“Goodnight, Steve.” Peggy dozed off against his chest and slept through the night.


	16. That's Always Dangerous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone, as always, for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. :)

“You know, Peg, I’ve been thinking…” Howard started.

“Well, _that’s_ always dangerous,” she quipped, looking at her lab partner. He gave her a glare, but continued anyway.

“I saw your speech at the SSR secretary elections. You had some pretty good ideas there.”

“You think so?” Peggy was surprised that he’d come out and said that. She adjusted their set up and took another reading.

“I do. I have been thinking that the SSR needs replacing. Yeah, Erskine founded the club and everything, but it’s so corrupt now with the guys they got up there. We need a shield you know? Something that sticks between us and the administrators and the SSR just isn’t it, you know,” he sighed. “But, I’ve been trying to recruit people to help found this replacement. I think you’d do a bang up job.”

“We’ve known each other for two weeks, Howard, how could you possibly know that?”

“Well, for one, you have a strong wit about you and you’re smart. You turned me, _a hot guy_ , down, but you’re intelligent and really just a great person. I think you could definitely help in founding this… I don’t know.”

“Founding a shield for SHIELD University?”

“See? That’s what I mean. You’d be great!”

“I’ll think about it. Give me more details and who else you’ve recruited and then we can talk.”

“You got it, Peg.”

~~~

Steve was early to running practice that day. Peggy had to go back to get something from her dorm, and said to go on without her. He got ready and started stretching. More and more of the guys started showing up and getting ready. Bucky came out and joined Steve’s stretching.

“So, Stevie, where’s your best girl?”

“What?”

“Yeah, Cap, where is your best girl?” Sam raised his eyebrows, jumping on Bucky’s comment.

“She’ll hate that nickname,” he said glaring at Bucky. "And you need to stop egging him on," he said to Sam. He only laughed in response.

“Well, everyone needs a nickname!” Dugan said. 

“He can’t even deny it,” Gabe said. “She is your best girl, Rogers.”

Steve blushed and seeing Peggy come out of the locker rooms made him get pinker.

“There’s the woman of the hour!” Bucky swung an arm around her shoulders, and Peggy gave him a confused look.

“Buck—“

“Listen, Carter, we’ve been thinking—“ Bucky said, talking over Steve.

Peggy snorted and repeated her statement from earlier that day that she’d said to Howard. “That’s _always_ dangerous.”

“You need a nickname,” Bucky said, continuing as if Peggy hadn’t said anything.

“Carter is fine,” she said.

“But wouldn’t you like something with a little more ring to it?” Sam suggested. Steve kept shooting looks at both of them.

“What’s this about?” Peggy tried to aim her question and Steve, but Bucky seemed to think otherwise and answered before he could.

“All of us, except Steve because he’s too serious for his own good, came up with a nickname for you.”

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like it,” she said. Steve made a face, and Peggy smiled at him.

“What?! You haven’t even heard it yet, Carter!” Sam said.

“Fine, out with it, then,” Peggy pushed off Bucky’s arm and came over to Steve. “How bad?”

“Just don’t punch him,” he replied.

“You’re Steve’s best girl!”

Steve braced himself for the bad reaction he thought she’d have, but instead, she smiled at Steve. His face went pink again, and he smiled back.

“You are, you know,” he said. “You are my best girl.”

“I’d hope so, darling,” she whispered, kissing his lips. There was a chorus of groans and “get a room”’s but Peggy just smiled. “Seems like a fine nickname to me, Barnes.”

~~~

Something wet and cold hit the back of Steve’s neck as they left the athletic center. Steve whipped his head around to see Bucky had thrown the snowball that hit him. Peggy immediately threw one at Bucky in retaliation and it hit him square in the chest.

“Oh, now you’ve done it, Carter!”

Steve pulled her behind some bushes and handed her a ready made snowball. Peggy smirked, “letting me return that favor finally?”Steve gave her a puzzled look as she threw a snowball in Dugan’s direction. It knocked his hat off his head and Peggy ducked before the one he through hit her. There was yelling as they made more snowballs. “I get to protect you this time.”

He remembered her saying one night that she’d return the favor for him “protecting” her when he walked her back to the dorms. That was the night of the party and he remembered her saving him from Lorraine. His thoughts were interrupted by Peggy’s yelling.

“Barnes you have terrible aim!”

“Not as bad as Dug—“ the shout back was muffled by the sound of snow hitting him. “You’ll _pay_ for that one Dum Dum. Sam! Make me another ball!”

Steve surveyed the courtyard they were in. Dugan, Monty, and Pinky were hiding on the steps of the science building. Jacques, John, and Jim were all in the trees and bushes across from where they were hiding. Bucky, Gabe, and Sam were out in the open being pelted with snowballs.

Steve made some more balls, tossing them at mostly Bucky, but he managed to hit Pinky and Jim as well. Peggy had hit everyone at least once and it wasn’t until Bucky was playing dead in the middle of the courtyard that Steve called a truce.

“We should do this again sometime,” Pinky said, brushing snow off his legs.

“I call Carter being on my team next time,” Monty said.

Peggy rolled her eyes. “You can be with Steve and I next time, Monty.”

“Hey, what if I wanna be on your team?” Bucky asked.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have hit Cap in the first five seconds then,” Jim laughed.

The conversations fell into the background as they all split off. They ended up back in Steve’s room, alone. Bucky had a night class that day. They changed out of their wet snowy running gear and ended up side by side working in Steve’s bed.

“Thanks for saving my ass in the snowball fight,” Steve said, kissing her head.

“Had to return the favor,” she smirked. "Always happy to protect you, my darling."

~~~

“How’s everything going over there?”

“The semester’s going well,” Peggy said. “I can’t complain. What about you, how’s your studying coming along?”

“Boring,” Michael replied. “Same rubbish as always. How’s Steve?”

“He’s doing alright. He’s got an art show coming up,” Peggy said, folding another shirt and putting it into her dresser. “He’s a fantastic artist.”

“Has he drawn you yet?”

“ _Michael_ —“

“No, I’m serious!”

“Yes, if you must know.”

“Well, I bet they’re great,” he said. “Mum’s grown on him since you came out for the holidays. I think she’s starting to like him.”

“Well, even if she doesn’t, I don’t give a damn.”

Michael laughed at her comment. “Well, I’m glad to hear all is well there.”

“Tell mum and dad I said hello next time you see them?”

“Of course, Peg.”

“Alright, I have some studying to do. I’ll talk to you soon!”

“Sounds good. Love you, Peg.”

“Love you too, Michael.”

~~~

Steve was doodling on a napkin when she got to lunch on Friday. Their normal booths had filled up fast and they’d gotten pushed to the upper floors and the hightop tables for lunch. It took Peggy a minute to get her lunch and find him. Steve looked up when she set her lunch on the table.

“Hello, darling,” she said, giving him a soft kiss before shedding her backpack and jacket. “What are you drawing?” Steve handed it to her. It was a small drawing of flowers like the ones he’d given her on their first date. He had a habit of drawing flowers for her on whatever paper he could get his hands on. She kept all his doodles of flowers in her planner so they stayed flat and she could look at them whenever she pleased. “They’re beautiful, darling.”

“Glad you like them,” he said. “I just got more information on the art show today in class.”

“What’s it going to be like?”

“More public than I wanted it, but it’s for a grade. It’s gonna be kind of fancy. They’ll have dinner and stuff.”

“Well, I’ll be there with you,” she said with a soft smile. “Do you know what you’re showing?”

“No, we find out later today which one’s Dr. Bell wants us to present. He’s supposed to email us or something.”

“Well, everything you do is wonderful, Steve. I’m sure he’ll pick a nice one.”

Steve blushed and took a bite of his lunch. “Anything new with you?”

“Since you saw me this morning?” Peggy flashed a smirk before answering. “No, just more papers and more work. I’ll have to work most of this weekend.”

“I have some pieces that need worked on and I have a paper to write too, so at least you’ll have me,” he smiled. Peggy returned the smile, hoping and knowing she always would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not gonna lie, the next two chapters I have written already and they are my favorite that I've written so far so I can't wait to publish them. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to more :)


	17. Art Shows, Nerves, and Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and leaves kudos :) This is one of my favorite chapters I've written so far and it's been written since the beginning of this month and it's just soft. Hope you all enjoy :)

“You’ll have to let Peggy take pictures of you and your masterpiece tomorrow. I’m sorry I can’t make it.”

“That’s okay, ma. It’s more of an exam type thing and a whole bunch of people there. You know how I hate big crowds.”

“Well, just know I’m proud of you, honey,” Sarah said to her son. She’d called just to check in and see how he was settling back into the new semester. “How’s Peggy?”

“She’s good. She likes her classes and things for the most part. Peggy’s pretty good at everything she does, so I’m sure she’ll be great this semester.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s doing well. Have you told her yet?”

“Told her what?”

“That you love her?”

“ _Ma_.”

“Steven Grant, I gave birth to you, I think I can tell when you’re in love with someone.”

“I haven’t. I just— it’s complicated.” He paused, thinking about how his mom was right. He did love her, a lot. She made him feel good and safe. Everything was easier with her around. “I just don’t want to move too fast, and I don’t want to scare her off.”

“You’ll get your chance,” she said. “Tell her I said hi and I hope she’s doing well.”

“I will, ma. Thank you. I miss you, and I love you.”

“Love you too.”

~~~

“I’m not nervous, Peggy.”

“Steve, you’re fiddling with your tie again, let me fix it.” She came over, bringing her hands up to adjust the tie around his neck. “I’m walking you to the Campus Center and then I have to go get dressed. You just get everything settled and take a few deep breaths.”

“It’s just… that painting is so personal, and I didn’t know _that_ was the one Dr. Bell was going to make me present. And even after we worked all weekend to prep my spiel about it, it’s just…”

“It’s one of your best paintings, darling.”

“I know it is, but making it is different than standing next to it and having it on display for people to see while they ask me questions.”

Peggy took his hands in his and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Hey, look at me,” she whispered. He met her eyes and gave her a weak smile. “You’re going to be fine, darling. I know being in front of people and in crowds isn’t your thing, but once we’re done, we can watch a movie and you can sleep in my room all curled up in blankets with popcorn and some decaf tea. Angie is visiting family this weekend, so it’s just you and me.”

Steve’s lips turned up slightly at that. “Sounds perfect.”

“And, I’ll be with you the whole time. You can fidget with my fingers while you talk to all those nosy professors and art students. I find that curling and uncurling your toes does wonders when you have to fidget but it’s not proper to.”

“What would I do without you, Margaret Elizabeth Carter?” Peggy just shrugged, giving him a smile and a quick kiss.

“Alright, darling, let’s get you to the Campus Center so you’ll be on time for something.”

~~~

Steve was standing talking to a few other art students when Peggy found him. He was fiddling with his tie again and Peggy rolled her eyes as she made her way to him.

When he saw her, his eyes lit up and he excused himself from the conversation to make his way over to her. “Have I ever told you you’re gorgeous? Because you are, inside and out.” Peggy was wearing a simple red cocktail dress. It wasn’t too fancy, but it was perfect for the occasion.

"You look quite handsome yourself, darling." Peggy felt a blush come to her cheeks as she handed him a travel mug. “I thought you might need some fuel.”

“Not more coffee, I already feel like I’m about to go haywire.”

“It’s not.” He gave her a questioning look, taking a sip. “Decaf tea. It’ll help.”

“Thank you,” he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. “You want to see the art in all its glory?”

“Of course I do, my darling.”

He lead her over to his painting that was propped up on an easel. The event hadn’t started yet, so the art students were just walking around and mingling. Steve squeezed her hand and kissed her head. “How does it look?”

“It’s wonderful, darling,” Peggy said softly, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Your father would have loved it.” It was the painting he’d shown her the first day she looked at his art. It was finished, and he had added in himself running in the grass.

“Thanks,” he whispered, pulling her close.

There was a little more small talk before the event officially started. Peggy stayed with Steve for the beginning where his professor was asking him questions. After that, she walked around the exhibit, leaving him to mingle for a few seconds while she got water for him.

There was a bit of a lull when Peggy returned. Steve looked a little uncomfortable, but seemed to relax when he saw her. His eyes went soft and he gave her the smile only reserved for her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just lots of people,” he said, playing with his tie.

Peggy opened a bottle of water and handed it to him. “Do you want to go in the hallway for a second?” He didn’t immediately respond, taking a long sip of water from the bottle. He took two fingers to the collar of his shirt and tried to pull it away from his neck. She used her hands to loosen his tie just a smidge.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said with a sigh. He let Peggy pull him into the hallway off the exhibit space that had been set up. It was quiet in the hallway and Steve seemed to instantly relax. “Sorry,” he mumbled, taking another sip of the water.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, my darling. You don’t like crowds and lots of people,” Peggy shrugged. “You have me to steal you away for a few minutes so you’re fine.” Peggy pulled him into her arms and let him bury his head in her shoulder. The tension left his shoulders as Peggy rubbed his back. It was a few minutes before he pulled away, pressing a kiss to her temple. He gave her a soft smile. “There you are,” Peggy whispered.

Steve rolled his eyes and smiled wider, holding her hips. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, my darling.”

“We should get back.”

“We can take another break later if you want,” she said with a soft kiss. “Come on, _Captain_.”

~~~

They got back to Peggy’s room around ten that night. They’d eaten dinner at the art event and Steve was way past ready to be out of his dress clothes. They had started leaving a few changes of clothes in each other’s rooms so they could always have what they needed in the event of staying over.

Steve was drained by the end of the event, having talked and socialized for so long that night. He was quiet, and Peggy didn’t mind that. She got him into her room and got a pair of his pajamas. He was seated at her desk, shoes still on and tie undone, hanging around his neck.

“Steve?”

“Hm?” He didn’t look up at her, only hummed a response.

“You can go change,” she said softly.

“Right,” he mumbled, not making any move to get up and go to the bathroom to change.

“Let me help.” Peggy came over and took off his shoes and dress socks without him even really noticing. Next, she set his tie away, taking the cufflinks out of his shirt and undoing the buttons. He helped her shrug off his dress shirt until he was in only his undershirt and dress pants. “Darling?”

“Hm?”

“Do you want me to help take your undershirt off and switch it?” Steve pulled her until she was sitting in his lap instead of responding. He leaned his head against her shoulder and Peggy placed a kiss to his temple. “Do you want my help?” Her voice was softer, and Steve realized he’d never heard her speak to anyone like this. He gave the smallest nod, and Peggy kissed his lips softly. “Put your arms up above your head.”

Steve did as he was told and she carefully look off his shirt, leaving his chest exposed. Peggy reached for the long sleeved pajama shirt and helped him put that on. “Change your pants while I change out of this dress, my darling.”

Steve did as he was told. He changed into his pajama pants and grabbed one of Peggy’s sweatshirts, slipping it over his head. Peggy turned around to give him a soft smile.

“That’s my favorite sweatshirt, you know that?” Steve managed a soft smile in return, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Go curl up under the bed sheets, my darling. Do you still want me to make tea and popcorn, or do you want to go right to bed?” He didn’t respond, only giving a small shrug. “I’ll make you a cup of tea. It’ll help you sleep.”

He sat up in her bed, watching her carefully choose the tea she was making for him. He watched her pour milk into the mug, making the way she knew he liked it. She handed him the steaming mug minutes later, and he took it with a soft, “thank you.”

She let him rest his head on her chest and drink his tea. She played with his hair and after finishing half the mug, his eyes began to droop. She carefully took the mug from his fingers and pulled him under the sheets. He pulled her close and soon they were tangled together, asleep.

~~~

When he woke up, he felt Peggy tracing patterns on his scalp. He opened his eyes and shifted at the light coming through the window. He glanced up at Peggy who was reading a paperback with the small amount of light coming through the windows. She noticed he was awake and marked her page, setting the book on her make shift night stand.

“Good morning, my darling,” she whispered.

“Morning,” he mumbled, pulling her closer. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

“Anything for you, my darling,” she said with the smile he knew she reserved just for him. Her smile made his heart race and _god_ , did he love her. He knew that he loved her ever since the day they went to see his dad on Thanksgiving break. He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. He mustered up all his courage, pushing himself up so he was sitting up next to her. He cupped her face and kissed her deeply. He pulled away, and stopped worrying whether it was too soon because, _he loved her_.

“I love you, Margaret Elizabeth Carter,” he whispered.

Peggy felt a smile come to her lips. She kissed him before replying, “I love you too, Steven Grant Rogers.”


	18. Smoothies, Dates, and Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update, but here it is, finally. I hope you all enjoy it :) and as always, thank you to everyone reading, leaving comments, and leaving kudos.

“So, what are you two doing for Valentine’s Day?” Angie asked, looking to Peggy. Melinda, Natasha, Angie and Peggy were all sitting around a booth at the Eagle that afternoon discussing plans for Valentine’s Day that was coming up on Thursday. Peggy hadn’t really talked with Steve about what they were doing, if anything fancy at all. She didn’t want to assume they were doing anything. They usually weren’t the people for extravagant dates in the middle of the week, really, so she couldn’t imagine anything other than maybe getting take out and watching a movie together. Which was prefect in her eyes, since every chance she got to spend time with Steve was prefect, even if it wasn't extravagant. 

“We haven’t really talked about it,” Peggy said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Bucky’s spending the night in my room again, so you can stay over his room.”

“So how’s that going?” Melinda asked.

“We’re not dating,” Nat said, taking a sip of her soda. “Seeing where things are going is fine.”

“Uh-huh,” Angie said, “you’ll be dating by this Thursday, no doubt.”

“Shut up, Angie,” she replied. “Mel, what are you and Coulson doing?”

“We’re not dating,” Melinda groaned.

“Oh my god, Mel, just make a move. All of you have great guys and you all are too blind to see it. It’s like I’m a therapist!” Angie rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna have to lock your guys in study rooms till you make out at this rate.”

“Coulson’s into that girl Rosalind,” Melinda said, taking a bite of her lunch. “We’re just friends.”

“Alright, fine,” Angie said. “But it’ll happen someday. By fate or by force, it's coming."

~~~

“Pegs?” Steve was sitting across from her in a small study room. She was writing a paper and Steve was writing one himself. He had been working up until a few minutes ago when he finished, and he started thinking about what to do for Valentine’s Day this week.

“Hm?” She didn’t look up from her laptop, or stop typing. He knew she was listening though because her fingers slowed down.

“You wanna take a break?”

“Let me finish this paragraph,” she said, typing fast for a few minutes before saving her file. “What’s up?”

“So, uh, Valentine’s Day is coming up,” he said. “I wanted to take you out, someplace nice,” he paused, “but only if you want to.”

Peggy got up from her spot and sat down beside him on the other side of the table. “What did you have in mind?”

“I uh… I—there’s a little place that serves great food just off campus. I didn’t know if you wanted to go out and eat, or we could order take out and hang out in my room.”

“Either is fine with me, darling. Do you want to go out or stay in?” Steve shrugged. “Well, we haven’t gone out in a while. Maybe it would be nice to get dressed up and go out.”

“I made a reservation already, I was just going to cancel if you wanted to get take out.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want to make you take back that reservation. I’ve been saving one of my dresses I brought from home for a special occasion.” Peggy leaned over and kissed his lips. “After dinner, do you want to watch a movie back in your room?”

“I think that’s perfect,” he said smiling. “How much of that work do you have left?”

“A conclusion and I have to add a reference page. If you want to go while I finish this—“

“Hey,” his word stopped her speech and he smiled. “I love you, and I have some sketches I can work on while you type away.” He saw the way her face softened at the statement. “After I can walk you back and kiss you goodnight.”

“I’d like that,” she said.

~~~

“Bucky? Have you seen Steve?” Peggy asked. She hadn’t seen him all day which was unusual. They usually met up in the morning before class to get drinks when they didn’t spend the night in the same room, but Steve had woken up late. Something felt off in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn’t place what it could be. She’d been searching campus for him, but so far had no luck. Just as she was about to give up hope, she ran into Bucky outside the campus center .

“Where’d you check already?”

“Art exhibits, his usual spot in the Eagle, the spot in the library he likes,” Peggy rattled off the list.

“I’d bet he’s in the studio. He seemed like he was having an off day when I talked to him.”

“Thanks, Bucky, let me know if you see him,” she said, walking off in the direction of the art building.

Peggy pulled out her phone, debating on whether to call him. She tapped his name and kept walking. The phone rang a few times before she heard his voice, “hello?”

“Darling, are you alright?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

“Steve, has anyone told you that you’re a terrible liar?”

“Not recently,” he said, clearly missing the joking tone in her voice.

“Are you in the studio?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you want me to come and see you?” Peggy stopped in her tracks. She was right outside the building at this point, but she hadn’t considered that Steve had gone there to be alone in the first place.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

“Hey, I love you, and if you need me because you’re having a shit day, then I’m here.”

He didn’t respond immediately, so Peggy stood on the sidewalk and waited until he spoke, “I don’t want to make you walk—“

“I don’t mean to cut you off, darling, but I’m right outside the art building.”

“Oh,” he said. “It’s just not a good day, and we have Valentine’s Day plans together later, and…” he trailed off.

“How about I come in? Unless you want to be alone?”

“I’m in the B studio,” he said softly.

“I’ll be right there,” she whispered, hanging up her phone. Peggy quickly made her way to the studio in question, and it was deserted other than Steve. He was sitting in front of a canvas near the back of the studio and he had his head in his hands. Peggy shut the door quietly, making her way over to him. She dropped her backpack and made enough noise as not to startle him. She knelt down in front of him, saying his name softly. “Steve?” He reached an arm out for her, and she pulled him till they were standing, wrapped in each other’s arms. She felt him relax in her arms just slightly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Just not a good day,” he breathed, burying his face into her hair, "there's not really a reason."

“I’m done with classes for the day, and I know you finished an hour ago. Do you have anything you need to do left today?”

“I have to get mail and do laundry.I have some work to do, but honestly, I might not do it today.”

“I have to get mail too, so let’s go get mail, and we can go back to your room to do laundry. We can get take out for dinner instead of going out.”

“I don’t want to cancel our plans.”

“Going out is overrated, darling, and I know you don’t like going out when you’re not feeling like yourself.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I don’t want to ruin our first Valentine’s Day just because I’m not feeling great for no apparent reason." 

“Hey," she said, making sure he met her eyes. "You’re ruining nothing, my darling. Anything we do today will be prefect, even if that’s doing nothing,” Peggy whispered. "You're allowed to have bad days." 

“I love you,” he whispered, placing a soft kiss into her hair.

“I love you too, my darling. Is there something you need to finish up here? Or are you ready to go?”

“I have to clean up, but I don’t think I’m getting any farther on this one today.”

“Alright, let me help.”

They cleaned up Steve’s spot quickly and got their things. Peggy lead him out of the studio and to the campus center where the post office was. They got their mail and went down to the main floor of the campus center. “You want to get some coffee or a smoothie or something while we’re here?”

“If you want,” he said softly. Peggy placed an order at the counter and got Steve his favorite smoothie and hers as well. She pulled him over to the side while they waited for their smoothies.

“Anything else you need while we’re out and about?”

Steve shook his head. “This little guy has talent,” Steve whispered, gesturing to the piano in the corner of the campus center.

There was a small boy, no more than 10 playing a soft tune on the piano. Peggy pulled him into her arms as if she was going to dance with him, Steve gave her a look, but she smiled, swaying them back and fourth to the music. “You’re a wonderful dancer, my darling.”

Steve laughed, smiling for the first time that day that Peggy had seen. “I love you,” he said, kissing her head softly.

“I love you too.”

Eventually their order got called and they left, but Steve was still humming the tune of the music as they walked back to his room.

Steve unlocked the door to his room and left Peggy so he could use the bathroom. Peggy made quick work of sorting his dirty clothes into piles for washing. Steve came back, melting at the sight of Peggy sorting his laundry for him. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, or that he expected her to do it. It was the sheer fact that she even considered doing it in the first place that reduced him to a puddle. He walked over to her and picked her up in his arms, setting her on his bed and kissing her. Peggy gasped at his sudden movements, but quickly kissed back, smiling. He pulled away first, resting his forehead against hers.

“ _Margaret Carter_ , I love you so damn much,” he whispered. He knew he’d said it so many times in the past hour, but he couldn’t help it. She was so patient with him in a way she wasn’t with anyone else, helping him, and keeping him in line at times. He loved waking up in her arms anytime they slept in the same bed and the smiles that were just for him. He loved how passionate and fiery she was. He loved everything about her.

Peggy smiled, kissing him again. “I love you too. Now, let’s get these clothes in the wash, captain.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Peggy laughed, causing Steve to smile. There wasn’t a time where her laugh didn’t make him smile. Peggy hopped down off the bed and grabbed the basket of clothes that she had sorted into its three piles. Steve grabbed his laundry supplies and they went to the laundry room in the basement.

Thursday evening was one of the best times to do laundry in his building for some odd reason. No one seemed to do it then, waiting to do it on the weekend or some other time. They loaded all the clothes into the washers before setting a timer and going back upstairs to Steve’s room.

“Alright, we have forty minutes before that’s done. What else do we need to do?”

“I have a sketch I’m working on that’s due Monday,” he said, pausing for a second, “if you need to work, I could do that while you do your work.”

“I don’t _have_ to do work,” she said. “I have some things I could do, but if you don’t want to work, we could do something else.”

Steve just shrugged. “Maybe sketching a bit will do me some good.”

They settled on his bed, shoulder to shoulder. Peggy was taking notes on her computer and Steve was woking on his sketch. It was nice to just sit and work next to each other. The timer went off and Steve left her to work while he switched the laundry. While he was gone, Peggy called the restaurant they were going to originally eat dinner at and canceled their reservation before ordering takeout.

Steve came back, unlocking the door and rejoining her on the bed. He finished his final details on his sketch before turning his attention to whatever Peggy was working on. He watched as she read and typed the information with ease.

“I ordered take out and canceled our reservation,” Peggy said, not taking her eyes off the screen. “We can go pick it up in about an hour, if that’s okay?”

“Sounds perfect,” he said, kissing her temple.

~~~

At the end of the day, the clothes were folded and dinner enjoyed. Steve was definitely in better spirits than when she found him in the studio. They climbed into Steve’s bed together, curling close to one another.

“Pegs?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what, darling?”

“Being you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss into her hair, "and for everything."

"No need to thank me," Peggy chuckled against his chest. “Time for bed, my darling,” she whispered. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Steve said. Just as she was about to drift off, Steve suddenly got up. “I forgot something,” he mumbled.

“Hm?” Peggy sat up looking at her boyfriend who was now standing in front of her with a piece of paper. He flicked back on the lamp and handed her the paper. “Oh, my darling, it’s lovely.” Peggy looked at the paper, admiring the work he’d done. He’d drawn them both, laying in a field of vibrant flowers. The depictions of her and Steve were done so well, and she remembered how he said he wasn’t a fan of inserting himself into his work, but this piece was gorgeous.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Peggy.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Steve.”


	19. Libraries, SHIELD, and Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who sticks with me and this story. I plan on having a regular posting every week on Tuesdays, so now (after like three months) this will be a regularly updating this. As always, thank you for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos :)

“Peg, I think I have some people rounded up for this SHIELD team,” Howard said. They were currently finishing up the lab for the day, and Howard had been quiet about SHIELD for a few weeks.

“Who have you got?”

“Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, and Melinda May.”

“Approach Nick Fury and see what he thinks.”

“He’s a part of the SSR now though,” Howard said, putting his laptop in his bag.

“Exactly. We can take the SSR down easier if one of their own comes to us.”

“I like the way you think.”

“What positions is everyone up for?”

“Walk with me and we can discuss. I have to meet someone in the campus center.” Peggy followed him out of the building and as they walked, he filled her in on the positions. If Nick agreed, he’d be up for president. She would be the vice-president, Coulson the secretary, Maria the treasurer and May would be historian and Howard would act as the PR chair. Peggy nodded along, agreeing with everything he was saying. “If Nick doesn’t go for it, we’ll be down a person and a president, more importantly.”

“Well, I’m sure we can find someone,” Peggy said as they entered the campus center.

“You’d be great as the president,” Howard said. “I originally thought that’s what we were going to do.”

“Nick will say yes. Direct him to me if he has reservations after he talks to you.” It's not that she didn't _want_ to be the president, but this whole remodel of the student government was political, and the board of the college would never go for something that didn't have a well known, upperclass, representative as the head. 

“Alright, but you could run the whole damn show, Peg.”

Peggy gave him a look. “I’ve never run a student government before. Having someone experienced means the board of the college will go for it more.”

“See, and that’s the kind of thinking that makes you a shoe-in.”

“Stark, I appreciate it, but we need Nick to make this work. I don’t doubt that I would be great, but they’re not going to take a replacement for student government with a bunch of inexperienced students on the board.”

“Alright, Peg. I’ll talk to him and let you know when we have our first official meeting.”

“Let me know if you need me to talk to Fury.”

“Will do.”

~~~

“I’d like to call this SHIELD meeting to order.”

Howard was standing at the front of the study room they’d reserved to talk about SHIELD. Howard said he hadn’t had the chance to talk to Nick, so they were just laying the groundwork for it here. With this, hopefully, they’d get Nick Fury to join and lead. Without him, Peggy was worried the board of the college wouldn’t take them seriously and this whole thing would be for nothing.

“I’d like to stand up here and tell you I know what I’m talking about when it comes to school politics and how hard it’s going to be to even get us a meeting with the board. But what we’re proposing is big. If we pull this off, it’ll be a new era here. And in order to get this right, Peggy needs to be up here, talking to you about her ideas.”

Eyes fell on Peggy as she got up and Howard went to sit in his seat. She stood and went to the front before she began. “Thank you all for coming, and I hope I can explain a little bit of what we hope to accomplish by replacing the SSR as the student government on campus.”

Peggy spoke about everything she’d pitched to the SSR when they were looking for a secretary position and more. The SSR handled most of the student infractions and student conflicts with other students, but since the current bout of students were elected, most of the student conflicts, especially those involving women and minorities were overlooked and pushed to the side. This problem would be the building block for their pitch. A student government shouldn’t exist if it doesn’t do right by the students.

Then of course, they discussed each position and what would happen in each of the different positions and what they had to say at the presentation. Maria, Coulson, May and even Howard contributed to the ideas they’d pooled together frothier pitch, and it was a really amazing meeting.

After, everyone was packing their things up, and Howard came up to Peggy. “You did good with them.”

“If this is another attempt to grease me up and make me take the presidency, that’s a no.”

“It—well, it was, but—“

“Stark, really, I agree with you, I will be a great leader, but we need someone on the board to get this in. It’s politics, and it’s what we need to do.”

“I wish it wasn’t political.”

“Trying to overthrow a government is always political, Howard.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“You’ll find I usually am,” she said with a smirk.

“No doubt in that statement, Peg.”

~~~

Peggy was sitting alone at a high top for lunch that day. Steve had a meeting and everyone else was either in class or busy. She was somewhat relieved because she hadn’t had a minute to herself in quite a while and a quiet lunch at a high top was just what the doctor ordered.

She was just finishing up her sandwich when she saw Fred and her stomach filled with dread. She had seen him a few times around campus, sure, but she hadn’t been alone or close enough for it to matter. Now they were close enough in proximity and the fact that she was alone didn’t bode well for her.

Peggy didn’t want to just up and leave, but she knew staying in her current spot would get her recognized and noticed by Fred and a few of his friends she knew who were standing with him. She pretended to ignore them, finishing off her yogurt and listening to her music. She got up and threw away her trash once she was finished, but just as she put her coat and backpack on, Fred was there.

“Eating alone are we? Did that bumbling idiot dump you already?”

“Hello to you too, Fred,” she said.

“I wonder if he ever even cared about you. Or maybe it was the other way around. I never felt as if you really took care of me the way you were supposed to.” Peggy felt her stomach lurch and her insecurities flood her brain. Fred must have seen the slight change in her demeanor because he gave a satisfied grin, knowing he’d hit a nerve. “It’s cute that you’d think he’d ever love you. You were never quite enough when we were dating, and I’m sure that stupid idiot of yours felt the same.” Fred went to touch her arm, but Peggy smacked his hand away before he could.

“Try and touch me again, and I’ll report you. Leave me alone,” she said. She turned on her heal and left the building, not bothering to look back at him.

~~~

Steve was staring to worry. He hadn’t seen Peggy all day. They had each slept in their respective rooms last night because Steve had an exam and needed to be up earlier than Peggy did, so they agreed that spending the night apart would be better. He had a meeting during the first part of lunch, and he wanted to find her before she left, but by the time he got to the campus center for lunch, she was gone. He’d sent a quick text, not really expecting a reply, saying that he hoped she had a nice lunch. He didn’t think much of it, grabbing lunch and eating with a few of the commandos before running to his afternoon class.

Once he was done, he texted Peggy to ask what she wanted to do for dinner. He didn’t expect an answer right away because he knew she was probably working somewhere, but by the time it was time for dinner, she still hadn’t sent anything. He called her, hoping she’d look at her phone and pick up, but both times it went almost directly to voicemail.

He called Angie next who said she hadn’t seen Peggy all day and to check the library rooms and her other favorite spots in the campus center. He went through the entire campus center, not finding her anywhere before moving to the English building to check her favorite spot there. Having no luck there, he made his way to the library. He searched all the study rooms and the quiet floor above for her and still nothing.

He stood outside the library, picking up his phone again and calling Nat next. She picked up quickly, “what’s up Rogers?”

“I can’t find Peggy and I’m worried something happened. She’s not answering her phone and I looked almost everywhere.”

“Alright, don’t worry. Where are you now? Where have you checked?”

“I checked all of the campus center, the library, and the English building. I don’t know where else she could be.”

“Alright, check the history building, and call me back if you want me to come up and help.”

Steve hung up with her and tried to call Peggy again. He listened to it go to voicemail again, leaving a message, “Pegs, I’m worried about you. Call me back when you get this please.”

He wracked his brain as he made his way to the history building as to any other places where she would go. He was only steps away from the history building when he realized where she must have been. He turned in the opposite direction of the history building and made his way toward Erskine Hall which was the science building.

Peggy had off handily mentioned that she liked the physics department’s science library because there was never anyone in it and it was cozy. Steve had only been in the science building a handful of times, but he knew the library was in the basement. He walked around the halls for a few minutes before finally finding the door. He glanced though the glass door and instantly spotted Peggy, and thankfully there was no one else in there. He sent a quick text off to Natasha before opening the door to the library.

Peggy looked up at the sound of someone entering the room and was surprised to see Steve standing before her. Before she could say anything, Steve pulled her up out of her chair and pulled her tight to his chest.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he murmured into her hair, “why weren’t you answering your phone?” He felt her shrug in his arms before he pulled away. The way she held her shoulders and the look on her face told him something was wrong. “What’s wrong?”

Peggy shook her head, “nothing.” Steve gave her a look of disbelief. She sighed and bit her lip before responding. “I just feel like I’m lost in my head a bit.”

“Do you wanna talk about it? Or we can go get some dinner if you don’t wanna talk about it?”

“Can we just get something to eat?”

“Of course,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. “The Eagle or SHIELD hall?”

“Maybe SHIELD hall?”

“You got it. Two more questions,” he said. Peggy nodded, packing her stuff up. “Do you want to stop at your room, mine, or neither before we go, and do you want to sleep in a bed with me tonight?”

“We don’t need to stop, and can I answer the second question after dinner?”

“Of course,” he breathed, kissing her on the lips and giving her a soft smile. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”


	20. The Right Woman for the Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so you may(or may not) have noticed that I put a cap on this story at the 25 chapter mark. Are we at the almost-end? Yes, we are nearing the close of this installment(at least that's what I have planned), BUT it's mostly because it's the end of freshmen year for these two and I don't have well thought out plot ideas for the remaining standard three years of undergraduate college. So, on that note, if I end up having divine inspiration, I may come back and add more onto this story OR there'll be a series that will keep going and building off this one (lmk if anyone would want that).
> 
> Also, if anyone has any ideas for plot for this/people you want to see/just anything, drop a comment on here or send me a message on Tumblr(avengeclintasha is also my Tumblr). 
> 
> ANYWAY after all that, here's the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reads, leaves kudos, and leaves comments :)

Dinner was quiet, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Steve sensed that Peggy needed to be in her head a bit longer, so he didn’t push her. Once they were done, they walked out of SHIELD hall, knowing that in one direction was Steve’s room and the other was Peggy’s.

“About that question I asked earlier,” he breathed. “Want me to stay the night? You want to come to my room?”

“I think I want to sleep by myself if that’s alright, my darling,” she said.

“Always, Pegs. Want me to walk you back still?”

“I’ll be okay,” she whispered, pulling him down for a kiss. “I love you, my darling.”

“Love you too, Pegs. You’ll call? If you need anything?”

“Of course, my darling.”

They said their last goodbyes and left, splitting off in opposite directions. Steve didn’t feel like going back to his room, and he still had a bit to do, so he decided to go back to the campus center to work.

He found a table upstairs quickly and got out his art supplies. He had a few sketches that needed finished up, but he found he was itching to draw more flowers. For some reason, whenever he thought of Peggy, he wanted to draw her flowers. The first flowers he’d drawn her for their date set a fire inside of him and now he wanted to draw fields and bouquets of endless flowers for her. She deserved the world in his eyes, and flowers, or sketches of them, was how he could give her that.

“Rogers!” Steve looked up from the sketch he was finishing. He’d done one for his class already and now was taking a break to draw a bouquet of roses for Peggy. His eyes landed on none other than Fred Wells. “I saw your, well, she was eating alone, so I’m assuming you two are _split_.”

“What are you talking about?”

"Peggy was all alone at lunch today, so I'm assuming you've split up already. I'm surprised you two lasted this long." 

“We’re definitely still together.”

“Well, it’s clear that she’ll just never be enough for _anyone_. You know what I mean, don’t you?” Steve looked at Fred, puzzled and wondering how he managed to get that from their conversation. "I mean, you've been with her long enough to realize it, haven't you?" 

Steve suddenly realized why Peggy had been acting so strange, and he also suddenly felt the urge to punch Fred Wells square in his jaw. “This is why she left you, you know," he said, not playing into his trap.

“I’m sorry?”

“Peggy left because you’re a prick who doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up and leave people alone,” Steve said. "Kinda like right now."

"You're wrong," he said. “She left because she finally realized that she would never be enough. I was just about to dump her myself when she called it quits."

“You’ve got it backwards, pipsqueak,” he said, standing up from his seat to tower over him. “You’re the one who couldn’t measure up. You never deserved a great girl like Peggy and you are a dick because of the way you treated her. And unless you want your face to be all black and blue tomorrow, I suggest you leave us the hell alone.”

Fred held his hands up in mock surrender, but Steve could see the genuine fear of a man his size in his eyes. Thankfully, he walked away, leaving Steve in peace. He sat back down, deciding to channel his anger into his roses for Peggy. Of course, he wanted to see her, but he knew his anger wouldn’t help her, and he needed to let it out. He quickly finished his drawing before sending a text and set off walking in the direction of her building.

~~~

Peggy was sitting on her bed, typing away at her laptop. Angie could tell something was bothering her roommate, but didn’t want to probe. She knew that when Peggy pulled her hair back and put on her pajamas early to not bother her, even if she thought something was wrong.

Angie was going over lines for her upcoming production when she felt her phone buzz. She set her script on her stomach, moving to check her phone. It was a text from Steve.

_Hey, odd request, but would you let me into your building in about three minutes at the entrance closest to SHIELD hall?_

She quickly typed back, _sure, is something wrong with Peg?_

Just as she grabbed her sweater and her script, she got a response. _There in a minute also I don’t know it’s a long story._

Angie left the room without Peggy even batting an eyelash. She practically ran down the stairs to let Steve in. She met him at the door and ushered him inside. “Thanks, Angie. You’re a lifesaver.”

“I’m gonna go practice lines with another girl in the building. You take as long as you need with her, alright?”

“Thank you,” he said.

Steve rushed up the stairs to Peggy’s floor and knocked on her door. “You left it unlocked, Angie,” he heard Peggy call. He decided that was invitation enough. He opened the door to the room, and she didn’t look up at him for a few seconds. She was intently working on, well, nothing, but she needed to write and typing on the computer made her feel better at times. She realized it wasn’t Angie after she hadn’t flopped back down on her bed. Peggy looked up to see Steve. “Darling? What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burst in here. I just—I needed to talk to you.”

Peggy gave him a confused look, but nodded. “Take off your shoes and jacket, and come here.” Steve did as he was told, shrugging off his backpack, jacket, and shoes. The roses were stuffed in the pocket of his jeans, and he knew that one would be a little crumpled and messed up because of it, but he couldn’t bring himself to care because of all the emotions inside him. “Steve? Are you alright?”

“I know what happened—or, not know, just—after you left, I went to the campus center to work on some art. Fred came up to me and said that he’d seen you earlier and then he said some things that were just so wrong about you and us… and I know what he said to you must have been worse and I’m so sorry that he is being like that towards you.” He paused, taking Peggy’s hands and a deep breath. “You are so lovely and amazing, and god, Peggy, I love you so damn much. You are more than enough and I hate that he ever made you feel otherwise.” Steve felt tears in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away, but he felt them fall. “I’m sorry that he treated you like that, and I just want you to know that you deserve the world and I just—“ he paused, squeezing her hands "—I just really needed you to know that.”

Peggy took her hands to his face and carefully wiped away the few tears that dotted his cheeks. She cupped his face and brought him down for a soft kiss. She held her forehead to his after their lips broke apart, relishing in the feeling of his skin against hers. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about what happened. When he said that I would never be enough, it just made me feel so _inadequate_ and I have always felt I know my value, but when he said that, it made me feel worthless. I don’t know why because he was a rather rotten human being once we came here together, but there was some small part of me that believed him.” She paused, taking a breath, "I was going to tell you, but... I just needed... I don't know," she shook her head.

“I will make it my life’s work to make sure you never feel that way again.” He pressed his lips to hers again in a soft kiss. “And in the spirit of that,” he said, fishing the rose daring out of his pocket. He handed her the folded piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it, and Steve watched her face go soft and the edges of her lips turn into a soft smile.

“They’re beautiful, my darling.”

“You deserve the world and, for some reason, that translates to drawing you endless pictures and arrangements of flowers, so I hope you don’t get tired of them.”

“I will never tire of them, Steve,” she whispered, bringing her lips to his. “Now, if it’s alright, I’d like to revise my answer to one of your earlier questions.”

“Okay, shoot,” he said, smiling and knowing what she was going to ask.

“Spend the night with me?”

He kissed her again, “there’s nothing I’d love more.”

~~~

“So, you’ll do it?” Peggy asked, looking at Nick who was sitting across the booth from her. He’d rejected Howard’s weak attempts to get him to join their new SHIELD group a week ago. However, from Howard's recollection, it seemed it was because Howard didn't explain SHIELD very well. Because of that, Peggy had spent the afternoon laying out the foundation in front of Nick. They’d spoken about everything they’d covered in the original SHIELD meeting, and Nick seemed to be on board.

“I understand everything you’re laying out. I think the SSR really does need a change. I’ve seen so many cases overlooked because the majority of the guys don’t care about student relations. Coming to me with this was smart. I think it’ll strengthen the case.”

“That’s what I told Howard, though he’s not the best when it comes to explaining things.”

“You’ve got that right. But, I’ll do it with one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You make sure you take over when I leave.” Nick sipped his drink. “Look, Carter, this only works if we have people to follow and continue what you want to do. Obviously, if you didn’t have me, you’d be the perfect leader for this group, but we need to build this SHIELD government the right way. You need to make sure that after you there’s someone to continue it.”

“I think you have yourself a deal, Nick.”

“Glad to be working with you, Carter.”

~~~

It was thanks to Nicolas J Fury that they got in front of the board al the college. However, it wasn’t just the college board of investors that was evaluating them, the SSR would be evaluating them as well. It was going to be a battle and they needed evidence and testimonies to being this home. Though Peggy was only a first year law student, she took over that part of their presentation. Evidence was her favorite thing about the law, and her other favorite part was collecting testimonies of people the SSR had hurt. By the end of the week, they had a list of ten students and physical evidence to back up each story.

It wasn’t going to be easy to overthrow the SSR, but here they were and that’s where they were going.

It was at the end of March when they finally found out when they’d be presenting the week prior to finals at the beginning of May. This, of course, gave them plenty of time to form, have meetings, and do everything they needed to do, but it also meant there was plenty of time for rumors to spread and gossip to fly.

And, of course, for the SSR to find a new cabinet member to replace Nick. They’d bumped Roger Dooley into the VP spot and Jack up to treasurer, leaving the public relations chair open for the taking. After the debacle with the secretary elections, they chose someone without holding an election. If pitching to the SSR couldn’t get worse, the appointment of Fred Wells to their public relations chair was the last thing Peggy wanted to hear.

“Why’d I let Howard talk me into this?”

Steve looked up from his laptop, reaching across the table and taking her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’re the right woman for the job.”

“That didn’t even remotely answer my question.”

Steve laughed, squeezing her hand again. “Because you know that deep down, you’re the right woman for the job.”

“Fair point,” she breathed, looking at the papers spread out before her. The booth was littered with her points for their presentation. Steve was sitting across from her, taking notes and keeping her company. It was getting a little on the late side, and Steve was certain they’d get kicked out of the booths in about an hour, but it was nice to sit and work.

It wasn’t long before they were packing up and Steve was walking her back to her room. She had to be up early the next morning for class, and he didn’t so he wasn’t staying. He walked her all the way back to her door, kissing her softly.

“Get some sleep. I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow,” Steve breathed.

“I love you,” Peggy said, kissing him again.

“I love you too.”


	21. I'm Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and leaves kudos :) I appreciate all of them

Steve got to the Eagle first that Friday, finding a spot at the hightop tables. He sat with his sketchbook and waited for Peggy to show up. He didn’t have any deadlines looming over his head this weekend, and he was hoping to plan out somethings for Peggy’s upcoming birthday. He had an idea for a present, but it wasn’t done yet. He knew she was stressing about the SHIELD preparations, so he wanted to make her birthday something special.

He heard her drop her bag down at the other seat at the table, looking up to see the stress forming lines on her forehead. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled, dumping her phone on the table and taking her keys up to the second floor of the campus center without another word.

Steve shut his laptop, putting it back in his backpack before she came back with a steaming thermos full of tea. She set it down on the table and sighed.

“You okay?”

“I’m tired, and I have a paper to write this weekend along with prep for SHIELD, and you’re going home for the weekend.” She breathed a sigh. “It’s just a lot, and I need some food before I explode.”

“Let’s get some food then, and I’ll walk you back to your building before I leave.”

“Okay, my darling.”

Lunch was nice, quieter than usual, but they were both at the end of a long week, and the semester was only going to get more rigorous from here on. Steve walked her back to her building, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Call if you need anything,” he whispered. “Don’t overwork yourself, I know how you are.”

“I think we both know that I will, no matter what.”

Steve gave her a soft smile, rolling his eyes. “You’re a goof,” he mumbled, bringing her into his arms and pressing a kiss into her hair.

“You’ll call if you need anything, too?”

“I will.”

~~~

Peggy was just finishing off the conclusion of her paper when her phone lit up. She didn’t bother looking at who it was, hitting the answer button and pinching it between her ear and shoulder. “Hello?”

“Hey, Pegs.” Steve could hear her typing through the phone. “Take a break.”

“Two more sentences and you can have my undivided attention.” He shook his head, breathing a sigh. “Alright, hello, darling. How are you?”

“Okay. What about you? Did you have dinner yet?”

“You’ll be happy to know that I took a break and ate dinner at a normal time with Angie.”

“Very happy to hear,” he said softly.

Peggy had learned every tone in his voice at this point in their relationship and knew something was off. “Darling, are you all right?”

“Yeah, ma’s just not feeling the best, and you know, I’m just worried.”

“I’m sorry, darling. Tell her I hope she feels better.”

“She’s sleeping now, but I will relay the message.”

They spoke for a bit longer back and fourth, and Peggy could hear the exhaustion in his voice, knowing he needed to get some sleep. “Alright, my darling, I hate to go, but I must finish my paper.”

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Love you too.”

~~~

“Here, ma,” Steve propped her up on the pillows in her bed before handing her a mug filled with tea. “Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking a sip of the warm liquid. “Stop worrying.”

“I’m not worrying,” he mumbled, busying himself with pouring the dose of medicine into the plastic cup.

“Steve,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I’ll be alright.”

“I know that,” he breathed, handing her the medicine which she took without a fight.

Sarah rolled her eyes at her son. “You look like you didn’t sleep very well.”

“I was doing work, and I was—“ he shook his head and didn’t let the word _worried_ fall off his tongue.

“Well, why don’t you go take a nap, hm? I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I’m fine, ma.”

“Honey, you wear your emotions on your sleeve, just like your father.” She squeezed his hand again. “Go take a nap. I promise I’ll wake you if I need anything.”

He tried to hold back a yawn, but ultimately that’s what sealed the deal. “Fine.” He stood, stretching and picking up the dishes on her nightstand. “Oh, Peggy says she hopes you feel better soon,” he said.

Sarah’s face softened, “tell her thank you, and that I hope she can come visit another weekend with you.”

“I will.”

~~~

Steve woke up a few hours later, curled up on the couch with a blanket bunched at his waist. He glanced around, wondering what could have woken him. He squinted at the clock which read 3:37 and he groaned. He _definitely_ shouldn’t have slept that long.

He heard coughs coming from the kitchen and he quickly got up, going into the kitchen. “You alright, ma?”

She waved him off, taking a sip of a fresh mug of tea. “I’m alright, Steve. Did you sleep okay?”

“I didn’t know I slept through lunch, I’m sorry.”

“I would have woken you if I needed you,” she said.

“Do you need me to make you something?”

“No, I had some more of the soup you made last night for dinner.”

“I’ll make more tonight so when I leave tomorrow morning you’ll have some.”

“Why don’t you eat some? There’s some on the stove still from when I heated it up.”

“I’ll eat in a minute. Let’s get you back in bed.”

Sarah rolled her eyes, but let her son worry and guide her back to her room. She made herself comfortable before yawning. “You go make yourself something, I’m going to take a nap.”

“Yell if you need anything,” Steve said, kissing her head.

~~~

Steve didn’t make it back to campus until around dinner the next day, and he was exhausted from the drive. He was too tired to do anything other than grab something quick from the Eagle and go to bed. He texted Peggy, telling her they would meet for lunch tomorrow since he was tired, and Peggy agreed without much thought. She’d finished everything major that morning, so she was looking forward to an early night as well.

Peggy woke up feeling refreshed, and had a productive morning before heading to SHIELD hall for her lunch with Steve. She grabbed a table up in the quieter dining room, setting her laptop up to field emails while she waited for Steve.

Just as she was about to text and see if he was okay, she saw him walk into the dining room. He looked a bit more disheveled than his usual self, but Peggy chalked it up to him probably not sleeping well.

Steve eyed Peggy quickly in the mostly empty dining room, relishing in the bit of quiet. He dropped his bag down before sitting across from her with a sigh.

“Darling, are you alright?”

Steve just nodded, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “Tired,” he mumbled.

Peggy stood, coming over to him and kissing his head. She wasn’t expecting to feel a fever. _Shit_ , she thought, putting the back of her hand against his forehead which he immediately pushed away. He definitely had a fever. “How about I go get us some lunch and we go back to my room so you can sleep some, hm?” Steve just shrugged, but didn’t move to protest. “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

She managed to wrangle to go containers and filled one with soup and crackers for Steve. She quickly got a sandwich for herself before making her way back up to where Steve was sitting. He hadn’t moved or even taken his jacket off which made Peggy nervous.

She set the food down on the table before she rubbed his arm, waking him from the half sleep he’d dozed into. “Darling, let’s get you back to my room, alright? We can get you all comfy and you can take a rest in my bed.”

Steve let her guide him up out of the chair, helping him put his backpack on. “I’m fine, Pegs,” he mumbled. Peggy just shook her head, huffing a laugh at him. Thankfully, SHIELD hall was closer to her dorm than the Eagle, so it was only about three minutes before they were in her room.

He seemed a little more alert when they came into Peggy’s room. He shrugged his backpack and jacket off, hanging them up before kicking off his shoes. Peggy handed him one of her bigger t-shirts and a pair of his pajama pants he’d left in her room. “Get changed out of those sweaty clothes, I’ll be right back.”

Peggy left to get water to put in the Keurig to make him a mug of tea to sip at. When she got back, Steve was changed, sporting one of her sweatshirts over the t-shirt she’d left him with. He was sitting at her desk, sipping at his water bottle. “Alright, darling, let’s get you into bed, and I’ll make you some tea.”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, offering no resistance to her careful hands helping him sit up in her bed with a bowl of hot soup. She didn’t respond with anything other than an eye roll which she was sure he missed. She handed him the mug of tea as well, watching him sip at both. She grabbed her sandwich, joining him and letting him lean against her chest. Once he was done, he was already fading into a sleep.

“You get some rest, Steve,” she said, kissing his head.


	22. This is My Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone leaving comments, kudos, and everyone who's reading. As an update on a possible sequel/series--it probably won't happen in the immediate future, though I may come back and write in this "universe" again. I have really enjoyed writing this story, and thank you to everyone who has been along for the ride--I appreciate each and every one of you. :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Peggy took a breath, grabbing her own phone and Steve’s before walking quietly out into the hallway. She texted Angie quickly, letting her know Steve was sleeping in their room at the moment, just so she was aware. Then she opened Steve’s phone, searching for Sarah Roger’s contact information. She fumbled through his contacts, finding the one labeled _Ma_. She didn’t want to bother his mother, but she knew there was something she needed.

Before she could stop herself, she pressed the call button, holding Steve’s phone up to her ear.

“Steve? Is everything alright?”

“Mrs. Rogers, it’s Peggy.”

“Is everything okay?” The tone of panic was evident in her voice.

“Yes, yes, everything’s fine,” Peggy rushed to reassure her. “Steve is just feeling a bit under the weather, and I thought about calling my mother, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “Never mind that, um—Steve tells me you make a wonderful vegetable soup, and I’m no cook, but I thought if I made it, it might help.” Peggy thought about calling her mother, but she wasn’t someone who made soup when someone was sick. Peggy pushed the thoughts of her childhood out of her mind, focusing on Sarah Roger’s steady voice.

“Give me your number, and I’ll send it,” she replied.

Peggy rattled off her number, “thank you, Mrs. Rogers.”

“No problem, dear,” she said softly. “Steve used to get sick a lot as a kid.”

“Really? He never told me.”

“Yes, well,” she breathed, “it was a hard time. Just make sure he stays propped up. He had bad asthma as a kid, and when he’s sick sometimes it’s hard for him to breathe.”

“I’ll make sure to take good care of him,” she said, pausing. “What about you? Are you feeling better?”

“I took a sick day today, but I’m feeling much better, thank you.”

“Good, I’m sure Steve will be glad to hear that.”

“Alright, Peggy, let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”

“You’ve already done more than enough,” Peggy said. “I’ll let you get back to resting up. Thank you again.”

“Call anytime, Peggy.”

They managed a quick goodbye before Peggy reentered her room. Steve was propped upon her bed, still sound asleep, which she took as a good sign. She set both their phones down on her desk before looking at him with soft eyes. Steve would most likely stay asleep, but she didn’t want to leave him while she went to the store.

Then she grabbed her phone, making another call.

~~~

When Steve woke up, the pain at his temples was the first thing he noticed. He groaned, instantly feeling the tightness of his chest. He _hated_ being sick. Steve rubbed his eyes, rolling onto his side.

“You alright there, Stevie?”

He opened his eyes to see Bucky, sitting next to the bed in the desk chair. He had his feet propped up on something under the bed, and his laptop was open on his legs.

“‘m fine,” he mumbled with a cough.

“Drink some of the water Carter left you.”

Steve pushed himself into a full seated position, taking the glass and gulping it down. “Peggy was here?”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Of course your girlfriend was here taking care of you. She just enlisted me to watch over you while she went to get some things.” It was quiet for a few seconds before Bucky spoke again. “You know, this reminds me of old times.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “You were always there in my room or in the hospital when dad and ma couldn’t be there.”

“I cut quite a few classes to make that shit happen.”

“And I’m forever grateful,” he mused, coughing again.

“Alright, alright, you should go back to sleep. I’m sure Carter will be back soon.”

Steve nodded, burrowing back underneath the blankets and falling back to sleep.

~~~

“Thank you, James, I appreciate it,” she said, setting the large container of soup down on her desk. “I owe you one.”

“No, Carter, I’m used to it. Steve was always sick as a kid, so,” he shrugged. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Of course.”

Peggy went over to where Steve was propped up in her bed, tangled in the sheets and under every blanket she had. She sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing his shoulder in attempt to wake him. “Steve?”

“Hm?” He rubbed at his eyes, looking at Peggy. “Hey, you’re here.”

“Of course I’m here,” she huffed a laugh, brushing the hair off his forehead. He didn’t feel quite as warm as earlier, so she took that as a good sign. “I made some soup, if you’re hungry.”

“What kind?”

“Vegetable. Your mum sent me the recipe, and I made some tea for you.”

“Did you talk to her? Is she feeling better?”

“She said she took the day today, but she was feeling much better.”

“That’s good,” he mumbled, coughing into his elbow.

“Alright, darling, let me fix you some soup.”

Peggy handed him a bowl full and set the tea down on her nightstand. Peggy fixed another bowl for herself before putting the rest in the fridge. She moved into bed with him, letting him rest against her chest. “This is good,” he mumbled, taking a bite.

“I’m glad. I was deathly afraid of butchering the recipe, but it seems like it went well.”

There wasn’t much talk after that. Peggy finished her soup first, leaving him to sit with his tea while she washed their dishes. She came back with clean dishes and another glass of water. Steve gave her a soft smile, watching as she poured a dose of medicine into the small plastic cup.

“Alright, time for some medicine, and then you should probably get some sleep.”

“I’m fine, Peggy,” he mumbled.

“You’re stubborn,” Peggy said. “You’ve still got a fever, so you’re taking this and then you’re going to bed.” She handed him the medicine and he gave her a sleepy look before downing it without more of an argument.

“You shouldn’t stay here tonight,” he said, coughing. “You’ll get sick.”

“Steve, this is _my_ bed.”

Steve gave her a strange look before actually focusing on the room surrounding him, realizing he’d forgotten they weren’t in his room. “I shouldn’t stay.”

“You want to walk all the way to your building? When it’s raining and you’re sick?”

“What about Angie?”

“She was planning on sleeping over in Mel and Maria’s room tonight before this happened. They’re all in that English class and they’re studying for a big test. They’ve got a futon in there, she’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I have some work to do. Just take another rest, and we’ll see if the weather clears up enough to walk you back, alright?”

Steve yawned, not having the energy to argue. Peggy pressed a kiss to his temple, tucking him in, and leaving him to sleep.

She worked at her desk for a few hours. It was just before midnight when she finished and made herself a mug full of tea. She cleaned up their room quickly before changing into pajamas. She finished her tea, discarding the mug on her desk and stifling a yawn. Carefully, she climbed into her bed next to Steve. Though she tried her best, her presence woke him.

“Hm?”

“Go back to sleep, darling.”

“Pegs, you’ll catch this,” he mumbled, still attempting to push her away.

“You’re worth it, my darling.”

Steve stopped pushing her away at that, curling around her with his head on her chest. “I used to get sick all the time as a kid.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She pressed a kiss to his temple, rubbing his back.

“I was a ninety-pound asthmatic in elementary and middle school. All the germs loved me back then,” he chuckled causing Peggy to laugh too. “I was in and out of the hospital with pneumonia and the flu every winter. My parents and Bucky always did their best to take care of me. It’s not a time I like to remember, hence why I hate being sick.” He paused, sighing. “My freshman year of high school I actually started to grow and my immune system got a lot better, but… even now whenever I get sick it just… just brings all that back.”

Peggy kissed his head again. “I know what you mean. It’s like any time I go home to my mother and she yells at me for something. I just get taken back to when I was a kid and she would sit me down and tell me I was never going to be a proper woman.”

“Well, you’re the proper woman for me,” he mumbled. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Always, darling.”

~~~

“You really didn’t have to do all this,” Peggy breathed. They were both dressed up and going to a nice restaurant for her birthday. Steve was insistent on taking her out to do something really nice since most of the week for him had consisted of sleeping, and most of the week for her was school work. She needed a break, and he was determined to give her one.

“I know, but I wanted to do all this because you know what?”

“What?”

Steve gave her his trademark smile, reserved just for her. “You deserve the world.”

Peggy felt her cheeks get hot. Steve was one of the only ones who could make her blush, and it was, surprisingly, something she loved about him.

“Dinner’s waiting,” she breathed, leaning over to kiss him.

They had a nice dinner together, and it did not rain like the first night they’d gone out for dinner, so they took a walk.

“Thank you for tonight, darling,” Peggy said.

“Not over yet,” he breathed.

“What do you mean?”

“Walk just a little bit further, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Peggy gave him a quizzical look, but nodded, playing along. Steve pulled her off the sidewalk of the park they were walking through over to a small gazebo. Peggy watched as he pulled out his phone and a portable speaker, setting it up the music.

“There’s no where that plays music you like to dance to, so I thought we could make our own dance club.”

Peggy smiled, pulling him down for a kiss. “You’re so thoughtful, darling.”

Peggy walked him through few more simple steps, and she showed him how to dip her, earning a lovely peal of laughter from her as well. They danced for a while, mostly just swaying back and fourth to the music. Peggy had her head resting against his chest.

“Did you enjoy your birthday?”

Peggy lifted her head to look at him, giving him a soft smile. “I’m prepared to say it was my best birthday I’ve had since I was a kid.”

She watched the blush creep up his cheeks and the smile form on his lips. “Well, I’m glad I could pull off such an amazing birthday.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “We have my room to ourselves for the night. We could watch a movie or really, do anything you want.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“One more dance.”

Peggy nodded, kissing him one last time before resting her head back against his chest. “Thank you, darling,” she said. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	23. You Work Too Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I write most of this today because I've been in a writing slump all week with this? Yes. But you know what, I actually like the way it turned out. I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. I really appreciate each and everyone one of them :)

“Alright, one more time to go through the whole run down,” Fury said, looking over the table. “I’ll start the pitch with our goals and mission statement. It’ll be pretty straightforward. I make some more opening comments and arguments about why the SSR isn’t working anymore. Then I introduce Carter and she starts on her stuff.”

Peggy looked up from her notebook, taking a breath. “Right, and I launch straight into student testimonies and the evidence against the SSR. I’ve prepped all the students who want to say something and they’re all ready to go. I have the files and PowerPoints saved as well and I’ll be running those the whole time. If anything doesn’t go right with the tech and slides, just leave it to me. After I’m done with the longest portion of our presentation, I’ll introduce Coulson and Hill to go over our main agenda and goals again."

“And I go over the money and funding as well,” Maria said. “I sent you the budget and figures to put in the show, Carter.”

“They’re all prepped and ready.”

“Good,” Coulson said. "Then I introduce May and Stark to wrap up with a discussion on SHIELD University’s history.”

“I discuss the goals we have again, to remind them of everything we said already. We discuss the school’s overall goals and how they align with ours,” May said.

“And I discuss optics and reintroduce Nick to the board,” Howard said.

“I wrap everything up, and we finish our proposal with questions from the audience and the board.”

“I’m sure they’ll ask us each specific questions, so be ready with answers. We don’t want any holes in our presentation. The SSR board is allowed to ask us questions, but it’s a more professional setting than their elections were so it shouldn’t be awful,” Peggy said. She was already dreading the questions she was bound to get from Fred and the others. Even if they didn’t throw questions at her during the presentation, they were the type to drag out conflicts for everyone after everything was over.

“Well, I’m glad everyone is on the same page. Make sure to get comfortable with your timing and slides. Carter shared the compiled slide show with everyone, so we should all be ready,” Nick said, shutting his folder. “If there’s nothing else anyone has, I think we can be done for the day.”

Peggy shut her eyes, letting out a breath. She had a few more things to go over and a paper to write after dinner. This week was never ending, but there wasn’t much left to do after the SHIELD pitch other than finals. She applied a few different places for a summer internship, but she hadn’t heard back from anywhere yet. Hopefully, those would be rolling in with the next week, but for now, it was time to go write a paper.

~~~

Steve found Peggy in the quiet area of the library pouring over a heavy law textbook with her computer open. She’d been working since dinner, and Steve knew if she stayed much longer, she’d be there until they kicked her out at two in the morning. 

If she hadn’t heard the footsteps behind her, she most likely would have jumped three feet in the air. Peggy felt a familiar touch on her shoulder, and looked up to see Steve. He smiled at her and pressed a kiss into her hair. His voice was soft, even though there was almost no one in the study space around them. “Come on, it’s time for a break.” Peggy sighed at his comment, but didn’t make a move to start packing up. Steve began picking up her things and putting them into her backpack. He helped her up and led her out of the library. “You want something to eat?” Peggy shrugged. “Let’s get some of that lemonade you like from the eagle cafe. I think they had cookies when I was there too.”

Steve led Peggy to the campus center, making sure to let her set the pace for their walking. Once they got to the eagle, he grabbed two bottles of lemonade and two of the huge chocolate chunk cookies they had made fresh. He paid for their food and led her to her favorite spot in the building.

The top floor of the campus center had a lounge at the top with a big sky light. They had comfy chairs and couches and Peggy liked to sit there and study when she got the chance. They sat down on one of the couches, and Steve handed her a bottle and a cookie. She leaned against his chest.

“You didn’t need to do this,” she whispered. “I know taking care of me when I’m in workaholic mode is not the most invigorating activity.” 

“I don’t mind.” Steve opened his drink and took a sip. “I love you, Pegs, and I never mind taking care of you.”

Peggy opened her own drink and took a sip, relishing in the fresh taste on her tongue. “Thank you.”

“Anything for my best girl,” he mumbled, hiding his face in her hair. He kissed her head before changing the topic. “Bucky almost burned down the kitchen in our building today while trying to make Nat dinner.”

“How did he manage to do that?” Peggy chuckled.

The soft conversation carried on and the tight knot in Peggy’s chest began to melt away. Steve did most of the talking, but he knew she needed it. He pressed a kiss into her hair before disposing of their trash. He pulled her to her feet and hugged her to his chest.

“You have more to do?” Steve's voice was soft, and his arms were warm. Peggy curled as close as she could to him, causing him to chuckle.

“Just a bit. Do you want to stay here for a bit longer, then we can go back to my room?”

“Sounds good to me. I have a paper that needs finished up.” He smiled, kissing her head. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Steve.”

~~~

The next day, Steve found her on the same couch as they’d sat at last night, and she was working on her final paper again. It was right after the lunch rush, and the remnants of her meal were sitting on the table in front of her along with what he assumed was coffee, but hoped was tea. He had a meeting with his advisor that couldn’t be moved, so they ate lunch at different times. _At least she remembered to eat_ , he thought. He dropped his backpack down next to her and picked up the trash from the table, cleaning it up. When he came back, Peggy looked up at him, giving him a tired smile.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” He sat down next to her, watching as she saved her work, discarded her laptop and took the thermos into her hands, downing what seemed like the rest.

“I’m tired, but I have class in about an hour.”

There was a beat before he shrugged. “You nap, I’ll stay awake,” Steve said simply, taking the empty thermos from her cold fingers. He knew she hadn’t slept well the night before due to this stupid law paper. He also knew going back to either of their rooms would eat up time she could be sleeping and the campus center might not have had blankets or pillows, but Steve had a jacket she could use and she could lay her head on his shoulder or his chest.

“Darling,” she whispered. Her face told him she was about to decline his offer, so he spoke again before she could protest.

“It’ll help. You have time, and I’ll wake you when it’s time for your class.” Steve pressed a kiss to her temple and got her to curl up against his chest. He pulled his laptop out, intending to get an assignment done quickly in the time he had.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He tucked his jacket around her torso and felt her breathing even out quickly after. He pressed another soft kiss to her temple and went to work on his laptop, careful to not disturb Peggy. He managed to finish up half of one of his history assignments, but before long, it was time to wake her up.

“Hey, Pegs, it’s time for your class in fifteen minutes,” he whispered.

“Tired,” she mumbled, curling further into his chest and tightening her grip on his arm.

“I know. After you’re done with class you can take another nap and curl up in my bed, okay?”

Peggy nodded, sitting up and stretching. Steve helped her gather her things and walked her to her class, kissing her softly and promising to see her right after class.

Steve found a table in the building, near the front that allowed him to finish up his homework and wait for Peggy to finish her class. He was just saving his work when he felt a presence standing next to him. He pulled his earbuds out of his ears and smiled up at Peggy who was standing there. “My room or yours?”

“Yours,” she said, watching him pack up his things, “as long as that’s okay with you.”

“Yep, fine by me.”

They reached his room in a little over five minutes. He unlocked the door and Peggy immediately dropped her backpack next to the desk. He went over to his closet and pulled out Peggy’s favorite sweatshirt of his and a pair of her own sweatpants. He set them on the bed and took off his outer layer, kicking his shoes into the bottom of the closet. He turned back to Peggy, noticing the exhausted look in her eyes. “I can make some more tea to help warm you up, if you want.”

“Tea’s fine.”

“Okay, you get comfy then.” He turned away, fidgeting with the Keurig to make some tea. He turned back with a steaming mug in his hand to find Peggy, changed and sitting up against the wall his bed was pushed against. He carefully climbed up next to her, taking her hand and passing her the tea.

“Thank you, my darling,” she whispered, sipping at the warm liquid with a sigh.

“Anything for my best girl,” he whispered. “When do you want me to wake you up?”

“What time is it?”

“A little after two,” he breathed, kissing her temple.

Peggy took a sip of her tea, sighing at the warmth. “In an hour. I have work to do still, but—“ she cut herself off with a yawn. “I need another nap.”

Steve pressed another kiss to her head, this time in her dark brown locks, letting her rest against his chest. He watched as her eyes started to fall closed, and she yawned again. “Alright there,” he breathed, taking the half-full mug from her fingers, “time to get you to bed.”

Just as Steve set aside the mug, Peggy pulled him down under the blankets with her. It wasn’t long before she was snoring softly next to him. He smiled, kissing her head, causing her to curl closer.

“You work too hard. Get some rest, Pegs.”

~~~

“I’m not nervous, Steve,” Peggy said, placing another pin in her hair. Steve hid a laugh in a cough, remembering how he’s fed that exact line to her not long ago right before his art show. He watched as she finished pinning her hair, smoothing down her blouse.

“You chew your lips when you get nervous, Pegs.”

Peggy’s hand immediately went to her lips, rubbing to get the skin away. “Can you find my lipstick? I think it’s in my makeup bag on the bed.”

Steve grabbed the gold tube out of the bag, handing it off to her. “You know the last time you had to speak in front of the SSR we had our first kiss,” Steve smirked.

Peggy stopped supplying her lipstick, smiling at him. “Why yes, you’re quite right,” she breathed, continuing to put the red color onto her lips. She turned to him, interlacing her hands with his. “I’m glad you were there after that.”

“I’m glad I finally got the guts to kiss you after that,” he said, kissing her head. “And I know you’re nervous, but you’re prepared, you’ve worked hard, and you can do this. And, as a plus, I’ll be there. _And_ as a _double_ plus, we have my room to ourselves tonight.”

Peggy squeezed his hands, giving him a soft smile. “Thank you, darling,” she said. He raised an eyebrow at her thanks, causing her to laugh. “Thank you for always being there.”

Steve felt the blush crawl up his cheeks. “Well then, thank you for always being there too.”

“We should probably start walking to the campus center,” she said.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he breathed, reaching into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a folded piece of paper. “Azaleas and peonies for good luck, not that you need it.”

Peggy unfolded the paper, melting at the sight of the drawing. It was a profile shot of her with her hair done up, peonies pinned there. In her hands, there was a small bouquet of blue and purple azaleas. “It’s beautiful, my darling. Thank you.”

“Glad you like it.” He pressed another kiss to her head. “Let’s get you to the campus center.”

~~~

As far as presentations went, they put up a good fight. The evidence that Peggy had put together was concrete and everything went off without a hitch. There was a bit of an issue when Howard forgot he was supposed to reintroduce Nick, but he realized and recovered after about five seconds of awkward silence. The question and answer portion even went well. Because the board of the college was overseeing, the SSR board couldn’t throw any lowballs, or cut anyone off before answering.

After the session was over, everyone was packing up. There were a lot of congratulations from the students who had attended that weren’t a part of the SSR. Steve was fiddling with another piece of paper in his hands when he made it through the students talking. Peggy gave him a smile, squeezing his hand.

“You were fantastic,” he breathed, squeezing her hand in return. He handed her the piece of paper, smiling. “Daffodils for new beginnings.”

“They’re beautiful darling. I love them.”

“Gotta admit, Marge,” Thompson said, breaking apart the moment they were having. “You did a pretty nice job up there.” He stuck his hand out, and Peggy shook his hand.

“Thank you, Thompson,” she said. She was surprised at his congratulations, but it was better than him ragging on her.

“You’re a bit of a nut house group, but I think you guys could really do some good.”

Peggy nodded at him, and Jack left them alone. Steve caught a glimpse of Fred with Alexander Pierce who both didn’t look to be in the highest of spirits. He couldn’t help the smug grin that manifested after that. He smiled down at Peggy, giving her hand the slightest tug.

“Let’s get outta here and celebrate.”

“There’s nothing I want more, darling.”

The “celebration” ended up being tea and some delicious cookies that Steve had made. Peggy relaxed against his chest as they sat with a movie on his laptop and their warm snacks. It wasn’t long before Peggy was falling asleep against his chest, similar to the other night. Steve smiled, placing a kiss to her temple. He carefully took her empty mug from her fingers, attempting to not wake her, but she hummed, looking up at him.

“Sorry I woke you,” he whispered.

Peggy shook her head, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Sorry _I_ fell asleep.”

Steve laughed, pulling her closer with a yawn. “I think it’s definitely time for bed,” he breathed.

Once they were settled, Peggy kissed him softly. “Thank you, darling,” she whispered, “for everything.”

“Anything for my best girl.”


	24. Internships, News, and Finals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got my crap together and wrote/edited this. Sorry for the late update, last week was a big school week for me. I'm planning(hopefully) on writing/editing/posting the ending sometime this week. 
> 
> As always, thank you to everyone who has stuck through me reading, commenting, and leaving kudos :) I appreciate each one <3

Throughout the week of finals, both Peggy and Steve took turns dragging each other out of the library late at night. Most of the time, they ended up at the top of the campus center with a snack and were in bed by one in the morning which was definitely better than pulling continuous all nighters.

The worst day of Peggy’s finals coincided with the worst day of Steve’s, so it was really a win win on their part. Peggy dragged herself back to her room only to find a note on her desk.

_Come to the kitchen. Dress code: pajamas only. ~Steve_

Peggy shook her head at his antics, but complied, putting on her favorite pair of her pajama pants and one of Steve’s hoodies over top of her t-shirt. She grabbed her keys, ditching her phone in favor of a peaceful rest of the night after an exhausting day.

Peggy opened the door to the communal kitchen on their floor, eying Steve who was making what looked like enough Italian food to feed a small army.

“Hey, you’re back.” Steve gave her a soft smile. “I made some pasta and meatballs if you wanna eat? Bucky, Nat, Angie, Howard, May and Coulson are all coming in a bit. Thought it would be good to drag everyone out of study mode.”

Peggy didn’t respond, instead coming over and burying her face in his chest. Her heart melted at the fact that he had cooked and done all of this for their friends.

“Hey, you alright?” Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. His other hand took her hair out of the messy bun it was in and started to work at the tangles in her hair.

“Long day,” she mumbled.

“I know,” he breathed, burying his nose in her hair. “I’m gonna finish this off and we can all eat.”

“Then we can sleep?”

Steve huffed a laugh, kissing her head again. “Then we can sleep, Pegs.”

It wasn’t long before the rest of their friends got there. Peggy was extremely grateful for the company and the warm food. Once everyone had gotten their share and they were sitting at a bunch of miss-matched tables pushed together, Steve sat down next to Peggy, dropping kiss to her temple and setting a mug of tea down for her.

“Thank you, my darling,” she murmured, low enough for just him. He smiled, letting her lean against his chest.

There was a lively bit of chatter, despite it being after 10:30 during finals week. Everyone was speaking about how terrible finals were and the first things they were going to do with their summer vacations. Peggy couldn’t help but hope that these little dinners would continue into the next school year. It was nice to have a break from the food at the dining halls, and it wasn’t often that all her friends were gathered in the same room. All in all, it was a great night.

They all worked to wash the mish-mash of plates and utensils that Steve had collected to serve their dinner on. Once everything was cleaned off and dried, they all broke off, saying their goodbyes.

“Want to come back to my room for the night? I know you have to get up for that meeting with your advisor,” Steve said. “Bucky’s staying with Nat tonight.”

“That sounds wonderful, darling.”

~~~

When Peggy woke up to her alarm the next morning, Steve wasn’t next to her. She got up, noticing a note stuck to her phone.

_Come to the kitchen again :) ~Steve_

Peggy found herself shaking her head again, smiling at what Steve had done. He had one more project to turn in tomorrow for art, and then he was done for the semester. Peggy had this meeting with her advisor and one more paper to finish up and she was done as well. Peggy was almost done packing up her room, and they’d already discussed how move-out was going to go, so there was no stress there. Steve’s mother was coming to help them with the boxes that wouldn’t fit in Steve’s car. They both didn’t have much separately, but combined they knew it wouldn’t all fit in the truck. Sarah, as always, was willing to help and even offered to let Peggy stay for a week before she flew home.

Peggy dragged herself down the hallway with Steve’s keys and her own in her hand. When she came into the kitchen, Steve was there making food yet again. The smell of green tea and blueberry pancakes filled the air and she sighed. _What did I possibly do to deserve him,_ she thought.

Peggy wrapped her arms around Steve’s waist from behind. “Morning,” she mumbled.

“Hey, sleepy head, good morning,” he breathed. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Definitely better with you, my darling, even if we are cramped in a twin bed.”

“I made some tea,” he said softly, placing the last pancake on a stack. “Thought you could use some fuel.” He turned in her arms until he was facing her.

“You didn’t have to do all this, darling,” she whispered.

“I wanted to,” he stated. “I like taking care of you.” Peggy buried her face in his chest, flush coming to her cheeks. “Come on, let’s eat and then you have to go to that meeting and I have to finish a project.”

They ate their breakfast and got ready for the day. Steve walked her to her meeting, leaving her with a soft kiss to her head.

“I’ll see you later, my darling,” Peggy said softly.

“I love you,” he breathed.

“I love you too.”

~~~

The rest of finals went as well as could be expected. It was a rush trying to pack up the rest of her room, saying goodbye to all her friends, and Peggy couldn’t wait to do it all over again. Saying goodbye to everyone was fine, promising to call and video chat. When it came time to say goodbye to Angie though, it was hard.

“We can text and email and FaceTime, English. And we got our housing all lined up in the apartments next year. Oh my god, I can’t wait!”

Peggy hugged her roommate tight to her chest. “I’ll miss you, Angie,” she said.

“Don’t go getting all mushy on me now, English.” Angie pulled away, giving Peggy a smile.

“You’ll have to tell me if you get any summer roles in New York for productions. If I’m interning in New York I’ll be able to see them.”

“When’re you supposed to hear back again?”

“Any day now.”

“Well, you’ll have to fill _me_ in on what you end up getting.” Angie’s phone broke them apart, but she declined the call from her mother. “Looks like my parents are here. Wanna help me carry down all these overflowing boxes?”

“There’s nothing I would love more.”

~~~

“Darling, I hate to argue with you, but I don’t think that’s going to fit in the backseat of the truck.”

Steve was standing in the parking lot, trying to shove a storage tote of his in the already full backseat of the truck. Steve smiled at her comment, putting the box down with a laugh. “We’re not going to fit everything in the truck.”

“I know that, darling, that’s why your mother is coming and we’re putting the rest in _her_ car.”

“I think we can fit our duffles in the back seat on top of the bedding stuff that’s back there.” Steve lifted the plastic tub he’d been trying to shove into the backseat into the truck bed. “We should be able to fit the rest of your tubs in the bed with a few of mine.”

“Alright, let’s go get those boxes from upstairs.”

“Ma said she’d be here in about a half hour.”

“Sounds like we have enough time to get all the stuff from upstairs and go back to your room to get things straightened up there.”

Steve smiled, giving her a quick kiss. “Let’s get back upstairs then.”

Once Sarah arrived, they made quick work of packing her car, and everything fit perfectly. Steve let Peggy pick the music as he drove.

“Will you please put on a different playlist than The Spice Girls?”

“You and your music tastes,” Peggy mumbled, picking up her phone to change the song. She eyed an email from Nick. She changed the song, opening it without a thought, skimming the first paragraph until her eyes met the line: _SHIELD is a go from the college for the next academic year._

“Oh my god,” Peggy said, almost dropping her phone.

“What?”

“Nick emailed me and the college gave us the green light for SHIELD.”

Steve’s concerned look morphed into a grin. “That’s amazing, Peggy! I knew you all could do it,” he breathed, squeezing her hand. “You’re going to be a great VP.”

“Thank you, my darling. This all started because of you, you know” she said.

Steve shot her a look, “I doubt it.”

“You were the one who urged me to apply for that secretary position.”

“Yeah, but you made it happen, Pegs. You did that.”

“I can’t believe they actually put us in for the year,” she said. “Think of all we’re going to do.”

“I can’t wait to see you do it, Peggy.”

~~~

Unpacking the truck was a mess.

Even with Steve’s mom helping them unpack, they ended up with more boxes in the wrong piles. Peggy’s boxes were mixed with Steve’s and it took almost an hour to get everything sorted and out of the front hallway.

After they were done, they sat in the kitchen, filling Steve’s mom in on the rest of the semester and the recent news of SHIELD. Peggy went to show her a few pictures on her phone, eyeing a few emails in her inbox again. Once she finished recounting the story, she opened her email, and this time she did drop her phone.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, putting a hand on Peggy’s arm. Steve turned around to face her from his position at the stove.

“I got an email from NYU about my summer internships.”

“Open it!”

Steve disregarded his work, coming over to stand behind her so he could read the email at the same time. Peggy read through both emails, smiling. “The NYU program wants me,” she breathed.

Steve wrapped her arms around her kissing her cheek. “That’s your top choice,” he breathed.

“Yes, yes it is.” Peggy scrolled through the email with a smile. “I’ll be able to be in the NYU housing for most of the summer too.”

“Congratulations,” Sarah said with a smile.

“Thank you,” she said, squeezing Steve’s arm that was still wrapped around her waist. Not only was NYU’s summer law program one of the best in the country. It also kept her close to Steve, so it was a win-win.

After dinner was done, and it was time for bed, Peggy found herself sneaking into Steve’s room. He was awake when she knocked lightly on his door. She heard a muffled, “come in,” and opened the door.

Steve was sitting up in his bed with his sketchbook. His lamp was on, offering the only light in the room. “You okay, Pegs?”

She nodded, coming to stand next to his bed. “Do you mind if I sleep in here with you?”

He smiled at her, patting the open spot next to him on his bed. “I don’t mind at all.”

Peggy crawled in bed next to him, leaning against his chest and watching him sketch a cityscape scene. “That’s very beautiful,” she whispered.

Steve chuckled as he placed a kiss into her hair. “Thanks.”

Peggy yawned before curling closer to him. Steve gave a soft smile, relishing in being home and having Peggy next to him. He felt her breathing even out and he dropped his sketchbook onto his nightstand. Steve moved down under the covers and Peggy shifted against his chest to get comfortable. It wasn’t long before they both drifted off to sleep.


	25. One Down, Three to Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I'm sorry for the SUPER late update to the final installment of this story. I had such bad writer's block on how I wanted to end this, and honestly I'm not completely happy with it, but it needs to not be a draft anymore.
> 
> Secondly, I currently don't have a sequel planned out, but I might come back and write more for these two. I have a lot of ideas, just not the inspiration to make it a full storyline. I have some other stories lined up and planned that will probably go up...soon-ish? I make no promises. 
> 
> Third, thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this whole entire story. It's been so much fun to write this, and I've loved seeing all the positive responses I've gotten from it. Thank you for all the comments, kudos, and for reading. I hope you enjoy this last little short bit for this story :)

Peggy had never been to a fourth of July celebration before because she’d only been in the US a short time. She was in the midst of her summer law program at NYU, but they had off on the fourth of July. Peggy was planning on spending the day with Steve, Bucky, and Natasha as well as their respective families at the Rogers household for both Steve’s birthday and the fourth of July.

Peggy wanted to do get him something special, especially after the night of dinner and dancing he’d planned for her birthday not long ago. She used all her free time putting together the present, and even though she wasn’t much of an artist, she was proud with the end result.

It was seven that morning when Peggy showed up at the Rogers’ house. Steve told her his mother would be up early prepping everything and Peggy wanted to be there to help. She was just about to ring the bell again when Steve opened the door.

“Hey, Pegs,” he yawned, opening the door wider to let her in. Once the door was shut, Peggy pulled him down for a kiss before hugging him.

“Happy birthday, Steve,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you.” He eyed the present in her hands with a questioning look. “I told you, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

Peggy rolled her eyes. “I know what you told me,” she paused, smoothing the wrinkles out of his t-shirt. “Just because you _tell_ me you don’t want anything, does not mean you won’t _get_ anything.”

He laughed at her words, kissing her again. “Is it okay if I open it later? I was thinking we could steal a half-hour to ourselves and go on a walk?”

“Sounds perfect, darling.”

“Steve? Who was at the door?” Steve turned at the sound of his mother’s voice before answering.

“Peggy’s here. We’re coming in a second.” He turned back towards Peggy with a smile. “I’ll go drop this and your bag upstairs if you want?”

Peggy nodded, handing off her bag to him. “I’ll be in the kitchen,” she said as he walked up the stairs.

She turned in the direction of the kitchen and found Steve’s mom stirring something on the stove. Sarah turned at the sound of footsteps and abandoned the pot on the stove to come and greet Peggy.

“Peggy, it’s so good to see you,” she said, hugging her. “How’s the law program at NYU going?”

“It’s great,” Peggy said. “It’s really interesting to see the real life applications of what I’ve been studying.”

“That’s good to hear. Anything else new and exciting?” She moved back over to the stove to check on the pot before dropping the lid and turning back to face Peggy.

“I’m excited to go back home during August and spend some time with my family. I think the semester coming up will be nice as well. What about you, anything new?”

“Not much excitement,” Sarah shrugged, glancing at Steve who came back into the kitchen. “There’s the birthday boy.”

Steve chuckled, surveying the kitchen. “What do you need help with, Ma?”

“If you two want to peel the potatoes for fries, I think Bucky and Natasha will be over soon to help too.”

“Sounds good to me,” Peggy said.

~~~

“Come on, you have to wear it!”

“Bucky, I am _not_ putting this shirt on.”

Steve looked down at the birthday gift Bucky had got for him. It was a tie-dyed shirt in red, white, and blue with Rogers across the shoulders on the back. On the front, it read _the star-spangled man with a plan_ in large letters.

“Why not!? You always got a plan, and you’re star spangled because of your birthday, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you always wear red, white, and blue together, punk.”

“My plan is more like let Peggy do the heavy planning and I show together the details.”

Bucky laughed, “you know I think I should get one for Peggy that has her name on the back and just says ‘I’m the plan’ on it. How about that?”

“What about me and plans?”

Steve and Bucky had been standing in the kitchen while Peggy and Natasha grabbed the soda Bucky had brought out of the car. Peggy dropped the case down on the counter before coming over to the two of them and looking at the shirt in Steve’s hands before laughing.

“Bucky wants to get you a matching shirt that says ‘I’m the plan’,” Steve said with a smirk.

Peggy shook her head, still with a smile on her face. “You know, James, nothing about that surprises me.”

“What did you get Steve for his birthday, Carter?” Bucky raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“None of your business,” Peggy said.

Steve only smiled and shrugged, “I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Peggy! Can you come here for a moment?” Sarah called from the front door.

Peggy left the guys and came to the front door to help carry in the last of the things from the car before Sarah pulled her aside. “Do you mind taking Steve out of here for an hour or so? I want to get the decorations set up, but I want it to be a surprise.”

“No problem,” Peggy said with a smile.

Peggy found Steve outside in the yard before pulling him aside. “How about we go take that walk now?”

Steve shrugged before agreeing and letting her lead him out of the house. She grabbed his present before they left too, so he could open it.

They walked for a bit, talking about the coming semester, his current job at a local art store, and Peggy’s law program. Steve led her to a park not far from his house and found them a nice spot in the shade. Peggy handed him the small box with a smile. “Open it.”

Steve did, making sure to carefully tear the paper before opening the box. He pulled out a small replica of the statue they’s met in front of. He looked up at her with a smile, “did you make this?’

“I did. It took me a while and it’s still a bit messy, but I think the shield turned out alright.”

“It’s perfect,” he said, kissing her softly. “Thank you, Peggy.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“And you said you weren’t an artist,” he smiled, placing the small statue back into the box for safe keeping when they walked back.

Peggy shrugged, kissing him again, “I wanted to make it special for you. They didn’t have anything like it anywhere and I know how much it means to you, so I got materials, not vibrainium, of course, and I made it.”

Steve just smiled before whispering "thank you" again, letting her lean into his chest and enjoy the moment of the two of them together.

~~~

“I mean, we’ve got one down and three to go,” Natasha said, sipping at her soda.

“Three more years,” Bucky groaned, plopping down next to her and across from Steve at the table.

“You can’t already be wanting to get out of school, you’re barely a sophomore, Buck,” Steve laughed, taking a sip of his soda.

“Hey, punk, I can do whatever I want,” he replied. Steve laughed before standing up and going over to where Peggy was sitting on a blanket in the grass.

“Enjoying your birthday?” Peggy turned to him, watching him sit down next to her. Despite his earlier protests, he did end up sporting the _Star Spangled Man_ shirt Bucky got for him.

“Yeah,” he breathed, moving closer to her. He replayed the line Natasha just said to him moments ago: _one down and three to go._ They’d talked about what they planned on doing after they graduated a few times, but neither Peggy or Steve had really concrete plans after college.

Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his chest, and placing a kiss to the crown of her head. Peggy turned to look up at him, wondering what the sudden burst of affection was for, “is everything alright?”

Steve smiled, rubbing her arm as he replied, “yeah, yeah, I just—I was thinking about something Nat said.”

Peggy raised an eyebrow, “what was it?”

“Just about how we have three more years left,” he trailed off, putting his face into her hair. He felt Peggy nod her head before she stopped. She took his free hand and rubbed her thumb across this wrist.

“I hope you aren’t thinking _we_ only have three years left.” Steve shrugged, squeezing her middle. “Our relationship does not need to end once we graduate, Steve, and that’s definitely not something we need to be worrying about now when we just finished our first year,” she said.

“Yeah, I know,” he murmured.

There was a beat of silence between them both before Sarah announced it was time for the fireworks to start. Steve laid back with Peggy on the blanket as they watched the fireworks, the conversation still at the forefront of both their minds. They didn’t speak while the display went on, too enraptured to hold a conversation.

Once the fireworks were over, Peggy pushed herself up so she was sitting again and Steve followed suit, turning towards her. “Hey, Pegs?” She looked at him, giving him a subtle smile. “I love you.”

Her smile grew at his words, “I love you too, my darling.”


End file.
